Sumith Gunasekera, an associate professor of marketing at Ferris State University, was arrested in Detroit on November 12 and is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Authorities say he is an undocumented immigrant from Sri Lanka with a criminal history that includes sex offenses in Canada and convictions in the United States, as per CBS News Detroit.
Gunasekera, a professor at Ferris State University, has a criminal record that includes a 1998 conviction in Ontario, Canada, for sexual interference with a minor and uttering a threat to cause death or great bodily harm, and he served one month in jail with a year of probation. He also faced prior arrests in Canada and legal issues in the U.S., including a 2003 arrest in Las Vegas for open and gross lewdness and a 2004 conviction for disorderly conduct.
Ferris State University has placed Gunasekera on administrative leave while ICE investigates, emphasizing concerns about student safety. As Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, "It's sickening that a sex offender was working as a professor on an American college campus and was given access to vulnerable students to potentially victimize them," and Gunasekera remains in ICE custody pending further immigration proceedings, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
