Spanberger urged not to release illegal alien convicted of groping girls at Fairfax High School

The Trump administration wants to ensure that an 18-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador stays put after he was found guilty of nine counts of assault for groping teenage girls at Fairfax High School in Virginia.

Israel Christopher Flores Ortiz, who entered the country illegally in 2024, was convicted Thursday of nine counts of misdemeanor assault and battery and found not guilty on three additional counts. An additional charge was dismissed.

Immediately afterward, the Department of Homeland Security said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an arrest detainer requesting that “Virginia sanctuary politicians not release this criminal illegal alien from jail back into our communities to prey on more innocent women.”

“This 18-year-old criminal illegal alien should NOT have been attending a Virginia high school and allowed to prey on innocent teenage girls,” said acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis in a Friday statement.

“Following his criminal convictions for nine counts of assault and battery, we are once again calling on Governor [Abigail] Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians to NOT RELEASE this sexual predator from jail back into our communities to victimize more innocent women,” she said.

Ortiz, a high school junior who entered the country illegally in 2024, was accused of reaching between the legs of a dozen teenage girls during passing periods in the school hallways and touching their private areas.

At least one of the girls was just 13, while Ortiz turns 19 in June, according to 7News (WJLA-TV).

“He targeted these girls, and he did it for fun,” Demetry Pikrallidas, attorney for the victims’ families, told WUSA-TV.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 21. Each count carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

The defense argued that the groping was simply incidental touching, while parents countered that the assaults represented a pattern of behavior involving multiple victims and stretching back for months.

🚨 WATCH: After court, I spoke to a 9th grade girl from Fairfax High School who was groped by 18-year-old Israel Flores Ortiz TWICE.

Thirteen girls came forward and testified Ortiz touched their private parts in school. Ortiz is a junior. He will be 19-years-old in June. He’s… https://t.co/UsHhChSrPF pic.twitter.com/4eaQqkGIIn

— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) April 9, 2026

“There’s a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault,” a parent told 7News last month. “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.”

The verdict comes after months of frustration for parents who accused school officials of failing to act promptly on their complaints.

Fairfax County Superintendent Michelle Reid said the district is “prepared to cooperate fully” after the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation March 30 into the incident.

Ms. Reid also said that the district has hired a law firm to conduct an independent review after Ortiz was arrested March 7.

“The safety of our students and staff remains a top priority,” said the district in a March 30 statement.

Parents were disappointed with Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano’s handling of the case, arguing that the prosecution should have charged the student with sexual assault instead of misdemeanor assault.

Prosecutors were also criticized after the defense requested bail and prosecutors did not object. Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith denied the request, saying it failed to protect the public.

The case comes with Ms. Spanberger, a Democrat, under fire for her executive order terminating agreements between state law enforcement and ICE issued in February, a month after she took office, succeeding term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Ms. Spanberger has insisted that Virginia is not a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants, while DHS said her decision to undo Mr. Youngkin’s order allows “criminals to be released back into American communities.”

“While Governor Spanberger continues to allow the release of pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto Virginia’s streets, DHS law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals,” said the department in a Friday statement.