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Israel Flores Ortiz, 18, an illegal alien, was sentenced to 360 days on Tuesday after being convicted for groping several female classmates in Fairfax High School hallways earlier this year.
With time served and the calculations for a misdemeanor, he has 135 days left in prison.
Judge Melinda Vanlowe delivered the sentence, calling it a “very difficult case,” adding the actions were “targeted” and representing a “pattern” of “deplorable” behavior.
Flores Ortiz was charged as an adult, but he was tried in juvenile court because most of the victims were minors. He was convicted in nine cases, acquitted in three and had one charge dismissed. He had originally been accused of assaulting 13 female classmates, according to the Fairfax Police Department.
The case had heightened concerns among parents about student safety after years of former President Joe Biden’s open borders policy.
Flores Ortiz, originally from El Salvador, is in the country illegally, having reportedly arrived in 2024.
Defense attorneys argued at sentencing that the case had been politicized, invoking President Donald Trump as they pushed back on the public attention surrounding Flores Ortiz.
“When people touch people [in an] unwanted way, sometimes we arrest them,” defense counsel said, gesturing toward Flores Ortiz, “and sometimes we elect them president of the United States.”
The defense asked the court to impose just nine days of incarceration, arguing Flores Ortiz’s age should weigh heavily in sentencing. Counsel said his “brain is physically not as developed” as that of a 25-year-old and argued his actions were not driven by sexual gratification.
Instead, the defense characterized the assaults as immature behavior, telling the court Flores Ortiz acted “for fun” and that “it was like a joke or prank.”
“Only a teenager would think like that,” counsel said.
After the hearing, an attorney representing one of the teenage victims rejected the political framing.
“This should not be politicized,” the attorney said.
The defense said the defendant “is sorry” for his actions and “he agrees it was deplorable he agrees it was a pattern.”
The case stems from a series of incidents in crowded school hallways that prosecutors said involved Flores Ortiz groping female students. The allegations sparked scrutiny in Fairfax County over school supervision and hallway safety.
“Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology, race-based admissions systems, far-Left indoctrination, and unlawful discrimination has inflicted immeasurable harm on our students,” the Education Department wrote in a post on X, announcing a Title IX investigation. “It must stop.”