A report has ignited fierce criticism after claiming that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz granted a pardon to an illegal immigrant convicted of first-degree abuse of a 10-year-old girl, a move that reportedly eliminated the conviction that had served as the basis for the man’s planned deportation, John Nolte reports at Breitbart.

According to the report, the pardon halted deportation proceedings for four years.

The article argues that the decision represents a glaring example of political hypocrisy.

“Minnesota officials, including Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, last month pardoned an illegal immigrant who was previously convicted of assaulting a 10-year-old girl and who was slated to be deported,” reports Fox News. Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old Laos national, “was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal conduct. Between 2002 and 2006, he repeatedly ly assaulted the girl.”

According to the report, Vang pleaded guilty but did not receive a jail sentence. Although the conviction resulted in the loss of the legal immigration status he had obtained under the Clinton administration in 1994, he nonetheless remained in the United States rather than being removed.

The report further contends that Walz’s pardon erased the abuse conviction, effectively eliminating the legal basis for Vang’s deportation and making it unlikely that immigration authorities will now be able to remove him from the country.

Based on Vang’s reported current age of 42, the article notes that he would have been approximately 22 years old at the time of his 2006 conviction, alleging that the abuse occurred when he was between the ages of 18 and 22 while the victim was a young girl.