An 18-year-old Northern Virginia high school student from El Salvador was found guilty Thursday on nine counts of assault and battery after he was charged with groping several of his female classmates in crowded hallways at school.
Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge Melinda L. VanLowe found Israel Flores Ortiz, a junior at Fairfax High School, not guilty on three other counts related to the same incidents and dismissed one against him, after nearly nine hours of lawyer arguments and witness testimony, including the minor victims.
“These were teenagers testifying in a courtroom under heavy scrutiny, cross-examination,” said Demetry Pikrallidas, a Virginia attorney hired to represent one of the student victims. “And they did it. They’re very brave.”
In her opening statements, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands explained the chain of events that took place between February and March. A female student was assaulted, she said. The student told her friends, who identified a pattern of this happening, before reporting the incidents to school officials.
Fairfax High School Assistant Principal Troy Ketch testified that he reviewed the school’s security footage and verified all but two of the complaints, including an incident where he saw “Israel with his hand on the backside of one of the students.”
School administrative assistant Jessica Rios said in her testimony that after Ketch completed his investigation and identified Flores Ortiz as a suspect, she and Ketch met with Flores Ortiz and he admitted to the allegations.
“He said that he had touched the girls’ butts, and he was doing it for fun,” Rios said. She said he also wrote a statement in Spanish further admitting to the assaults.
Jamie Hospers, Flores Ortiz’s public defender, argued throughout the hearing the school’s overcrowded hallways and inconsistencies in witness testimony made it difficult to prove his client committed the assaults or did so with intention.
During closing arguments, VanLowe said she “can’t ignore” Rios’s statement before handing down guilty verdicts for a majority of the charges against Flores Ortiz, who sat in a dark teal jumpsuit with his head hanging low. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 21 and could face at least six months in prison.
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Post that Flores Ortiz unlawfully entered the United States from El Salvador in 2024. On Thursday, the department posted on X: “If Fairfax County’s sanctuary politicians choose to release this predator back into our communities, [ICE] stands ready to take him into custody and deport this sexual deviant.”
The case has drawn scrutiny of Fairfax from far-right critics, including House Republicans, who have said the county’s policies make it difficult for federal immigration agents to deport people who are in the country illegally and accused or convicted of a crime.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (D) and County Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid (D) are expected to testify about the county’s policies at a hearing before the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration integrity, security and enforcement on May 14.
The incidents at the high school, which is in the city of Fairfax and part of the Fairfax County Schools system, prompted the latest federal probe into Northern Virginia districts. Last week, the Education Department launched an investigation into the assaults under the Title IX federal law that prohibits sexual harassment, assaults and other gender-related crimes in schools and other facilities that receive federal assistance.
Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement it is “prepared to fully cooperate” with the Education Department inquiry and Superintendent Michelle Reid has hired McGuireWoods, an outside law firm, to conduct an independent review of the allegations.
“The goal is clear: to establish a definitive understanding of what occurred, when it occurred, and confirm that all policies, procedures, and regulations were properly followed,” Fairfax Schools said in a statement.
Previously, Fairfax County Schools and nearby districts have faced federal inquiries over allegations that a staff member helped two students schedule abortions and into policies protecting transgender students and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
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