Illegal immigrant who assaulted girls in Fairfax High School set to be released from jail

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — A 19-year-old man who was convicted of assaulting nine girls in the hallways of Fairfax High School is set to be released from jail in two weeks.

Earlier this year, 7News was the first to tell you that Israel Flores Ortiz was accused of groping girls at school and that he is in the country illegally.

Ortiz is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who crossed the southern border in 2024. ICE says he was released into the country during the Biden Administration. He enrolled in Fairfax High School. And during his junior year earlier this year, 7News was the first to speak with parents who said Ortiz groped their daughters’ private areas.

“There’s a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault,” one mother of the girls told 7News. “It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls. 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.”

“What do you think about your experience so far with the school system handling this situation?” 7News reporter Nick Minock asked two of the mothers, who agreed to speak on camera.

“Abysmal, abysmal,” one mother told 7News. “I think from the very beginning, Fairfax County has attempted to diminish what happened to these girls.”

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Parents of several of the girls told 7News they are furious with Fairfax County Public Schools.

“They have attempted to sweep it under the rug,” one mother said. “They sent out a letter last night.”

“After we demanded it, multiple parents demanded that there be a letter before we got it,” one of the mothers exclaimed.

“But it was a completely sanitized letter,” the first mother continued.

Ortiz was ultimately accused of assaulting 13 girls.

Some of the victims were as young as 13 years old.

He was found guilty of assaulting nine girls.

Here’s what one of the victims told Minock after he was found guilty.

“I’m glad in my case he was found guilty,” she said.

“How are you feeling after this happened to you?” Minock asked the victim. “He was accused of touching you, touching other girls. How has this impacted you? “

“It’s impacting me because back then I didn’t have to look around,” she said. “I didn’t have to look around and make sure no one is going to touch me.”

Although he faced up to nine years behind bars, Ortiz is getting less than six months in jail. He’s set to be released on September 3rd.

PAST COVERAGE: FCPS declines to release full external investigation report on high school groping case

ICE has issued an immigration detainer against Ortiz.

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t said if they are going to honor the detainer and release him to ICE.

Typically, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t honor ICE detainers.

If he is released back into the community, 7News asked Fairfax County Public Schools if they are going to allow Ortiz to come back to school for his senior year. FCPS hasn’t answered that question yet.