MS13 gang member 'deported from US 4 times before molesting toddler and stabbing her mother'

A member of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang was deported from the US four times before he returned to stab two women and sexually assault a toddler, New York police have said.

Tommy Vladim Alvarado-Ventura is accused of assaulting a two-year-old girl in a New York City suburb while her mother was out at work on Tuesday (21 March) and stabbing the mother when she discovered the alleged assault.

He is also accused of stabbing another woman outside a bar on Wednesday in an incident that is believed to be unrelated to the alleged assault on the toddler and her mother.

Alvarado-Ventura, who faces life in prison if he is found guilty of the alleged crimes, was deported to El Salvador on four separate occasions between 2006 and 2011, the Associated Press reported.

It is unclear why the Alvarado-Ventura, of Hempstead, Nassau County, was deported from the US or when he returned to the country.

The MS13 gang is allegedly responsible for the deaths of at least eight people in the US over the past few months, including the killing of two high-school best friends in Long Island.

In early March, four members of the gang were charged with the murders of 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas and 15-year-old Nisa Mickens, who were beaten to death in Brentwood.

The "world's most feared street gang" operates in the US, as well as in Latin American countries including El Salvador and Honduras.