EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The U.S. Marshal’s office is on a manhunt for a man who has recently resided in Seward County.
According to a news release originally obtained by KAKE News, the U.S. Marshals are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Juan Ralios-Batz, a Guatemalan man wanted in Seward County on multiple counts of crimes against children.
Ralios-Batz, who is believed to be about 40 years old, is wanted on three counts of rape of a child, one count of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated human trafficking and one count of abuse of a child.
According to the report, Ralios-Batz and his sister allegedly sponsored a 13-year-old unaccompanied child and during a two-year period, Ralios-Batz raped the child, forced her to do manual labor and eventually impregnated her. Ralios-Batz allegedly fathered a child with the unaccompanied minor, and when he became aware he was being investigated, his family relocated him to Fremont, Neb., according to the report.
Ralios-Batz is 5-feet, 1-inch tall and weighs about 115 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair and a tattoo of a “J’ on his right arm.
He has also been known by several aliases including Juan Ralios, Juan Batz, Randy Guerro, Juan Ramos-Batz, Juan Ramos and Omar Gonzalez.
Other outlets reported the Liberal Police Department would not cooperate with the U.S. Marshal’s office if ICE was involved, claiming that Mayor Jose Lara provided instructions not to comply.
But Lara denied those claims. and Liberal Police Chief Chet Pinkston was also not aware of any efforts to refuse to cooperate with federal authorities. To the contrary, Pinkston stated they had requested help from the U.S. Marshal’s office, and Lara agreed.
“We were more than happy to have their help,” he said.
Lara added the city might pursue avenues to seek libel charges against news outlets who claim the city refused to help locate the fugitive.
Anyone with information regarding the location of Ralios-Batz is asked to contact the U.S. Marshals at 1-877-WANTED-2, or send tip information on the USMS Tips App.
