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An Ivory Coast citizen and former Montgomery County resident was arrested by U.S. Customs officials Nov. 29 at Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia on charges of sex abuse of a minor.

Officers arrested Kehipo Honore Bolou, 46, after he returned to the U.S. from Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported Thursday in a news release.

In 2005, a criminal warrant was issued for Bolou in Montgomery County on charges of sex abuse of a minor and third-degree sex offense. The alleged offenses were committed between 2001 and 2004, according to online court records.

An attorney was not listed for Bolou in the online records. He does not have a listed phone number in Maryland.

When he was arrested at Dulles, Bolou gave officials a Gaithersburg address, according to the U.S. Customs press release. A Rockville address is listed on the 2005 warrant.

Bolou is wanted for sexually molesting a family member who was 15 years old when she filed a report at the Silver Spring station of the Montgomery County Police, according to police charging documents in Montgomery County District Court. The girl said the sexual abuse had lasted for four years. Police interviewed Bolou on May 11, 2005, and he fled the country before the charging documents were filed on May 28, 2005.

The family member who filed the original charges wrote to District Court Judge Eugene Wolfe in March asking that the charges be dropped, according to documents filed in District Court. It was the second denial of such a request. Bolou's wife asked the court to drop the charges in June 2009.

Bolou was apprehended as part of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program in which agents compare passenger manifests of international flights with national crime databases, said Stephen Sapp, a spokesman for the agency.

Bolou was flagged for the outstanding warrant and taken into custody after a secondary customs inspection confirmed his identity, Sapp said.

Bolou will be held by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police at the Loudon County Adult Detention Center without bail until Montgomery County Police take custody.

Last week Customs and Border Protection officers also arrested New Castle, Del. resident Robert Joseph Binford, 52, after he arrived at Dulles from Kuwait for failure to register as a violent sex offender.

Cpl. Dan Friz, Montgomery Police spokesman, said he expects Bolou to return to Montgomery County this week.

Loudoun County Senior Assistant Public Defender Tammy Garvey said a Dec. 10 administrative hearing scheduled in Loudoun County General District Court will close the fugitive from justice case against Bolou there; he should be in Montgomery County by that time.

Bolou agreed Friday to be extradited to Montgomery County to face charges. Customs officers also placed a detainer for Bolou to be returned to U.S. Customs and Border Protection after he has faced criminal charges.

All non-U.S. citizens arrested by U.S. Customs officers, including legal permanent residents, are placed on detainer so they can be returned to customs officials after their cases are adjudicated, the release states. Criminal convictions may have an impact on a person's immigration status.

Since July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have made 19 arrests at Dulles, press release states. The department made 146 arrests there during the 2010 fiscal year and has averaged about 120 arrests at Dulles during the previous five fiscal years, according to the release.

dgaines@gazette.net