FAIRFAX, Va. -- Immigration and customs officials have arrested a fugitive immigrant accused of sexually abusing a minor in Frederick.

Raul Ernesto Sarmiento Sanchez, a 48-year-old Honduran national, was arrested on Dec. 27 at a Fairfax County apartment, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

Sanchez has been a fugitive since 1997, when he ignored an immigration judge's order of removal, officials said.

Sanchez was charged in January 2007 with sexual battery in connection with abuse of a minor in December 2006. He had also been charged with domestic violence.

After prosecution on the local criminal charges, Sanchez will be taken into ICE custody and removed from the United States, officials said.