A Fairfax High School student will serve more than four months in jail for reportedly groping multiple girls in the school’s halls.
Israel Christopher Flores Ortiz, an 18-year-old who’s currently a junior at Fairfax High, was sentenced today (Tuesday) to 180 days in jail for each of the nine fellow students he was found guilty of assaulting earlier this year.
Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Melinda VanLowe suspended 140 days for each count, contingent on Flores Ortiz maintaining good behavior while incarcerated, complying with the terms of his probation and avoiding other criminal offenses for the next two years.
Flores Ortiz has been in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center since his arrest on March 7, and for misdemeanors, Virginia allows one day per time served to be shaved off a sentence for good behavior. As a result, he will likely serve approximately 140 days total, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirmed.
“People have the right to feel safe and be treated with respect” in their communities, VanLowe said when handing down her sentence. “Your actions violated those values. [The victims] were not having fun when you were grabbing them.”
The judge also mandated that Flores Ortiz undergo a psychosexual evaluation and avoid contact with all 13 students involved in the case.
Fairfax City police arrested Flores Ortiz after finding in an investigation that he had assaulted multiple students between Feb. 25 and March 4. Fairfax High School officials had reported the allegations to the police on March 5.
After additional victims came forward, he was ultimately charged with 13 misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, and VanLowe found him guilty on April 9 of nine counts. Flores Ortiz was found not guilty on three counts, and one charge was dismissed.
During today’s sentencing hearing, VanLowe, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands and assistant public defender Jamie Hospers all acknowledged the significant political and media attention that the case has attracted, largely due to Flores Ortiz’s reported status as an undocumented immigrant.
The Department of Homeland Security released a statement in March telling Fairfax County “sanctuary politicians” not to release the “19-year-old criminal illegal alien,” and the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation on March 30 into Fairfax County Public Schools, alleging that its handling of the assault reports might’ve violated federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex in public education.
Republicans have called Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee on May 14 for a hearing on the county’s policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“Because of the politics of the moment, the case has been made about something it’s not,” Sands said, reading part of a letter written for the judge by one of the victims.
The victim pushed back against the focus on Flores Ortiz’s immigration status and said the national attention has made the experience “even worse for me.”
“I want to go back to being a normal kid,” the victim wrote, adding that the issue is “not about immigration,” but about her and other students “feeling unsafe” in their school.
Attorney Demetrios Pikrallidas, who is representing one of the victims, echoed that sentiment in comments to media after the hearing, stressing that he feels “politics should have nothing to do with this case.”
“I think what’s really important is this is not going to go away for my client,” Pikrallidas said. “This happened. It’s gotten a lot of attention. It’s not that. It’s the vulnerability and the fact that she was touched in a school setting, and that shouldn’t have happened, so it goes on beyond today. My job is to make sure it never happens again.”
He added that he’s hopeful Flores Ortiz’s sentence sends a “strong message” that, regardless of the setting, “you don’t touch people inappropriately.”
Hospers had argued for a lighter sentence of nine additional days in jail followed by probation and a mental health evaluation, pointing to Flores Ortiz’s youth, lack of a prior criminal record and the fact that he turned himself into police and confessed.
According to Hospers, Flores Ortiz had characterized his actions in his confession to police as something he did “for fun, almost a prank,” rather than behavior motivated by a need “for sexual gratification.”
“It’s butt-grabbing,” Hospers said, though he acknowledged that two students had testified that they were subjected “to more invasive touching than that.”
Calling the federal government’s reasons for getting involved “disingenuous,” Hospers told the judge that the case was being “exploited for political gain” and that sometimes people accused of the same behavior as his client get “elected to be president of the United States,” a remark that drew some murmurs from the audience in the courtroom.
“It’s unacceptable regardless of the identity of the person,” he said.
Before the sentencing, Flores Ortiz apologized “to the girls and their families” as well as his own parents.
“He is sorry, your Honor,” Hospers told VanLowe before his client made his brief statement. “… He recognizes that students deserve to feel safe in their school.”
VanLowe was unconvinced that Flores Ortiz initially believed his actions amounted to a trivial prank, noting that one victim recalled in a letter that she had confronted him on March 4 and “cursed [him] out” for assaulting her.
“It was very clear it was a problem that hurt that person. Then, two days later, you did the behavior again,” the judge said.
In their letters, the victims — some of whom were present at the hearing — described how they changed their behavior in the wake of their assaults, illustrating how Flores Ortiz’s actions had a “lasting impact,” VanLowe said.
In a press conference following the hearing, Descano said his office is “happy with the outcome” of the case.
“These girls were attacked repeatedly, and this is why we went forward with the case,” he told the assembled media. “Look, our office is all about keeping our community safe and doing justice. It doesn’t matter what somebody’s status is. If somebody commits a crime in Fairfax County, we’re going to hold that person accountable.”
The defense has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the case to the Fairfax County Circuit Court, which would essentially trigger a whole new trial. Sands requested that Flores Ortiz remain in jail during the appeal proceedings if they’re required.
Hospers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but both Descano and Pikrallidas said they’re prepared to continue advocating for the victims if there is an appeal.
“We think it’s going to happen, but I got news for everybody: she’ll be there, and she’s going to see it through, guaranteed,” Pikrallidas said of the student he represents.
