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Updated on: November 26, 2025 / 11:57 AM EST / CBS Detroit
A Ferris State University professor has been placed on leave after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him in Detroit earlier this month.
ICE officers arrested Sumith Gunasekera, an associate professor of marketing at the Big Rapids-based university, on Nov. 12 in Detroit. ICE officials say Gunasekera is an undocumented immigrant from Sri Lanka. Authorities claim he is a sex offender.
Ferris State now says it has since placed Gunasekera on administrative leave.
"Ferris State University leaders on Tuesday became aware of accusations regarding Professor Sumith Gunasekera. He has been placed on administrative leave while the university gathers more information. This is a personnel issue and it would be inappropriate for the university to further discuss the matter," said Dave Murray, Ferris State associate vice president for marketing and communications.
According to ICE, Gunasekera first arrived in the U.S. in February 1998, left for Canada, and later returned to the U.S. later that year on a student visa.
In November 1998, ICE officials say Gunasekera was convicted in Ontario, Canada, of sexual interference with a minor and uttering a threat to cause death or great bodily harm. He was sentenced to a month in jail and one year of probation. In September 2023, ICE says Gunasekera was arrested in Las Vegas for open and gross lewdness and convicted in January 2004 of disorderly conduct and sentenced to fines. Authorities discovered in 2012, when Gunasekera applied for a change of status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, that he was convicted of crimes in Canada.
Gunasekera remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.
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