VA sheriff refuses to honor ICE detainer for illegal alien arrested for groping 9 girls at Fairfax high school where he was student

Israel Flores Ortiz, 18, is a junior at the high school and is in the country illegally. About a dozen girls have come forward alleging that Ortiz put his hands between their legs and groped them at school. He was arrested on March 7 and appeared in court on Friday.

“There's a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault,” one mother told Nick Minock at 7News. Ortiz was charged with nine counts of assault and battery. “It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls," the mother went on. "He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs. It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab. It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months.”

https://twitter.com/NickMinock/status/2032562319692091539?s=20

On Friday, Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith denied the defendant's request to be released from jail after he had been accused of the crimes. Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano's office had agreed to Ortiz's bail request. However, Pidikiti-Smith said the request for bail would not protect the public from him being a public safety threat.

When parents of the girls were asked about how the school has treated the situation, one of them said, “Abysmal, abysmal. I think from the very beginning, Fairfax County has attempted to diminish what happened to these girls.”

Parents of the girls who have alleged the behavior coming from Ortiz said that the school district has "attempted to sweep it under the rug." The school district only acknowledged the allegations in a letter on Thursday, one of the parents said. “After we demanded it, multiple parents demanded that there be a letter before we got it,” one of the mothers said.

“But it was a completely sanitized letter,” another parent said.

Ortiz's arrest date is listed as March 7, but the offense dates are listed as February 25. “We are writing to share the news of the recent arrest of a student who was charged with inappropriately touching other students at school. These incidents involved the student touching students’ buttocks while they were transitioning in the hallways," the letter from the school to parents read in part.

“Yeah, no, I would not be here for butt slapping,” a mother said, “I would, I mean, I would be upset about that, but this wouldn't be my second day this week here at the courthouse for that. It was a clear violation. He put his hand in between my daughter's legs, and the butt was actually the last thing that he touched.”

“The girls have experienced harassment and bullying from peers at school, including people that they once thought were their friends, and the letter that they sent out, referencing it only as buttocks touching, just adds fuel to rumors that they were just attention seeking,” one mother told reporters.

Fairfax County Central Schools said in a statement, “While Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is unable to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws, we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools. The safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority.”

At the same time, ICE has issued a detainer for Ortiz in order to deport him to his home country of El Salvador. However, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacy Kincaid is not honoring the detainer.

https://twitter.com/DavidJHarrisJr/status/2032840706956403159?s=20

“Unfortunately, sanctuary politicians like Gov. (Abigail) Spanberger are outlawing cooperation with ICE and choosing to RELEASE criminal illegal aliens from their jails back onto their communities to create more American victims,” an ICE spokesperson said. “We are calling on Fairfax County to honor our detainer to ensure this violent criminal is removed from our country so he can never claim another victim again.”