ICE Arrests Ferris State Professor Accused of Having Prior Sex Crime Convictions in Canada

Federal officials say the man was working as an associate professor in Michigan at the time of his arrest.

DETROIT., Mich - Federal immigration officers arrested a Ferris State University associate professor earlier this month after officials learned he had past convictions for sex related offenses in Canada, according to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE officers took Sumith Gunasekera, originally from Sri Lanka, into custody in Detroit on November 12. During processing, he told investigators he was employed as an associate professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids.

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According to ICE, Gunasekera’s criminal history includes several convictions in Canada. Peel Regional Police in Brampton, Ontario first arrested him on August 28, 1998 for uttering death threats. Officers arrested him again three days later for invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference. ICE says Gunasekera told officers at the time that the charge involved a minor.

A Brampton criminal court convicted him on November 12, 1998 of uttering threats and sexual interference and sentenced him to one month in custody and one year of probation.

ICE says he was later arrested in the United States. The Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas arrested him on September 25, 2003 for open and gross lewdness. The Las Vegas Justice Court convicted him of disorderly conduct in January 2004 and issued fines.

In a statement, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said she was concerned a person with past convictions had been working on a college campus.

Federal officials say Gunasekera first entered the United States in 1998 on a student visa. He left for Canada and later returned that same year. When he applied to change his immigration status in 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services learned of his prior convictions in Canada, which made him ineligible for certain immigration benefits.

ICE says he continued to seek immigration benefits over several years through applications, denials, and appeals.

He remains in ICE custody pending further immigration proceedings.

Ferris State University confirmed to the Big Rapids News that Gunasekera has been placed on administrative leave following the arrest.