PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1238

CARLOS RAFAEL GOMEZ-RUOTOLO

Petitioner

v.

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Argued: January 23, 2024 Decided: March 20, 2024

Before WILKINSON, QUATTLEBAUM, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Petition denied by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Quattlebaum and Judge Rushing joined.

ARGUED: Daniel Joseph Melo, CAPITAL AREA IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS (CAIR) COALITION, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Tim Ramnitz, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Peter Alfredson, Taylor Joseph, CAPITAL AREA IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS (CAIR) COALITION, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Brian Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Shelley R. Goad, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. USCA4 Appeal: 23-1238 Doc: 52 Filed: 03/20/2024 Pg: 2 of 22

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

Carlos Gomez-Ruotolo was deported after being found removable as a noncitizen

convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude. After being denied relief by

the Board of Immigration Appeals, Gomez-Ruotolo petitioned this court for review. He

claims that the crimes for which he was convicted in state court—attempted sexual battery

and electronic solicitation of a minor—are not crimes involving moral turpitude. He also

contends that he should receive protection against removal under the Convention Against

Torture. For the reasons that follow, we reject these contentions and deny the petition.

I.

Gomez-Ruotolo is a native citizen of Venezuela. He was brought to the United

States by his parents in 2001, when he was ten years old. He and his family were admitted

as lawful permanent residents and settled in Northern Virginia, where Gomez-Ruotolo

attended school and resided as a young adult.

In 2009, law enforcement officers searched eighteen-year-old Gomez-Ruotolo’s

residence in Dumfries, Virginia pursuant to a federal search warrant. They discovered five

images that depicted children as young as four years old being sexually abused. Gomez-

Ruotolo was ultimately charged with “attempt[ing] to commit sexual battery on a minor

child under the age of fifteen years, against the will of said minor child, by force, threat or

intimidation or through the use of the child’s mental incapacity or physical helplessness,

in violation of Virginia Code Section 18.2-67.5(c).” J.A. 543. He pleaded guilty to this

charge and acknowledged the potential adverse immigration consequences of his

conviction. The Circuit Court of Prince William County, Virginia sentenced Gomez-

2 USCA4 Appeal: 23-1238 Doc: 52 Filed: 03/20/2024 Pg: 3 of 22

Ruotolo to 180 days imprisonment, suspended in full on the condition that he register as a

sex offender and maintain good behavior. He served no time in prison.

Less than a decade later, Gomez-Ruotolo again found himself facing child sexual

abuse charges. In 2018, a now twenty-eight-year-old Gomez-Ruotolo posted on Craigslist

stating he desired to “get[] with someone younger, as young as it gets

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