Feds investigate Fairfax County Public Schools over undocumented immigrant charged with groping girls

The Education Department announced Tuesday it is investigating Fairfax County Public Schools over reports that an undocumented immigrant sexually assaulted 12 female students there. 

The Fairfax Police Department said Israel Flores Ortiz, an 18-year-old student, turned himself in on March 7 and has been charged with 13 counts of assault and battery.

The victims said Ortiz groped them from the back and front and stuck his hand in between the girl’s legs, local outlet 7News reported.

“There’s a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault,” one mother told the local outlet. “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.” 

Ortiz is being held on no bond and has a court appearance in April.  

Fairfax County Public Schools said it will cooperate with the Education Department and has requested an outside independent law firm to review the matter.  

“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,” the district said in a statement.  

“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 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,” the district added. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Ortiz came to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador in 2024, FOX5 reported.  

“We are calling on Fairfax County to honor our detainer to ensure this violent criminal is removed from our country so he can never claim another victim again,” DHS reportedly said.  

The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment.  

The Education Department said in its statement this is just the latest in investigations that have been opened up against schools in Northern Virginia.  

“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 wrote.  

It pointed to the investigation it opened into the five Northern Virginia school districts that allow transgender women into female locker 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 said.  

The Trump administration has gone after numerous states, universities and K-12 districts that allow transgender women on female sports teams and in female bathrooms.  

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