Quick Summary
- Federal investigation launched into Fairfax County Public Schools over alleged assaults by an illegal teenager.
- Israel Flores Ortiz, 19, is accused of sexually assaulting over a dozen female students.
- School district to cooperate with federal inquiry and retain an independent firm for a comprehensive review.
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a Virginia public school district over reports that a teenager who entered the country illegally sexually assaulted over a dozen girls, allegations that some parents claim the school district attempted to “sweep under the rug.”
The Department of Education announced Monday that Fairfax County Public Schools is the latest Northern Virginia school division to be under investigation.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the teenager accused of assault, Israel Flores Ortiz, from El Salvador, illegally entered the United States in 2024. The DHS reported that Ortiz, who was released into the country under the Biden administration, attended the 11th grade as a 19-year-old.
The federal agency requested on March 16 that Fairfax County keep Ortiz detained, noting that the suspect is accused of groping multiple girls, with reports saying that he allegedly sneaked up on students in the hallways and grabbed them between their legs.
In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, a spokesperson for FCPS said “the safety of [its] students and staff remains a top priority.”
According to the spokesperson, the school district received the complaint this week and is reviewing it.
“We are prepared to fully cooperate with the U.S. Department of Education’s inquiry,” the FCPS spokesperson told CP. “We are grateful to our law enforcement partners and are continuing to work closely with them as their investigation into this matter moves forward. To maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we cannot share additional details at this point.”
“In addition to the law enforcement investigation, Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid has requested that FCPS retain an independent outside law firm to conduct a comprehensive review of this matter,” the representative for the school district continued.
“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. The firm of McGuireWoods will conduct this thorough, objective, and independent review.”
According to a press release last week from the Fairfax Police Department, Fairfax High School alerted authorities on March 5 about reports of multiple assaults at the high school.
Ortiz turned himself in on March 7 and was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The suspect was initially charged with nine counts of assault and battery, but after more victims came forward following his arrest, four additional counts of assault and battery were added on March 25.
Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith denied Ortiz’s request to be released from jail after the student appeared in court on Wednesday. Ortiz is still being held on no bond.
In a statement to 7News, one of the victims’ mothers said the suspect is a “stranger” to the girls he is accused of assaulting.
“He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs,” the mother said. “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.”
Several parents expressed frustration to the local news outlet about how FCPS handled the situation. One mother said multiple parents had called on FCPS to send out a letter addressing the situation before they got one, but another mother claimed that it was a “sanitized letter.”
“They have attempted to sweep it under the rug,” another mother said.
Fairfax High School Principal Georgina Aye sent an email to parents on March 12, two weeks after the incidents were reported. The letter addressed the arrest of a student charged with “inappropriately touching other students,” which the principal said involved “the student touching students’ buttocks while they were transitioning in the hallways.”
One of the mothers told 7News that Ortiz’s assault against her daughter went further than the letter described. The parents who spoke with the outlet also claimed that the victims have faced bullying at school because of FCPS’ description of the allegations.
“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 said.
In its statement earlier this week, the Department of Education declared: “Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology, race-based admissions systems, far-Left indoctrination, and unlawful discrimination has inflicted immeasurable harm on our students. It must stop.”
The department also pointed to investigations it has already opened into five Northern Virginia school districts that allow male students who identify as female to enter girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.
“Female students say they witnessed male students inappropriately touch other students and watch female students change in a female locker room. Many female students in the Divisions have reported that they avoid using the restroom at school because the policies make them feel unsafe and uncomfortable,” the department stated.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
