ICE Deports Man Convicted of Groping Nine Fairfax High School Students

Israel Flores Ortiz, the 19-year-old Salvadoran national convicted earlier this year of groping nine students in the hallways of Fairfax High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been deported to El Salvador, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Wednesday.

According to ICE, Flores Ortiz was arrested by agency officers on Aug. 31 after his release from the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where he had been held since March 25 while serving his sentence for sexually assaulting nine high school students. He was removed from the United States on Sept. 8 and returned to El Salvador.

An ICE spokesperson gave the following statement to Nick Minock of the local ABC affiliate:

“On Aug. 31, ICE officers arrested Israel Flores-Ortiz following his release from the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Flores-Ortiz had been in the FCADC since March 25, serving his sentence for sexually assaulting nine high-school students. Flores-Ortiz illegally entered the United States in 2024 and was RELEASED into the country under the Biden administration. On Aug. 10, a Justice Department immigration judge ordered Flores-Ortiz removed from the United States. On Sept. 8, he was removed from our country and sent home to El Salvador.”

The case first drew attention in March, when reports surfaced that Flores Ortiz, then a 19-year-old junior at Fairfax High School, had been approaching girls from behind in school hallways and grabbing them. One mother said roughly a dozen girls had reported similar encounters and called the school system’s handling of the matter “Abysmal.”

The case also raised questions about how an adult male who had entered the country illegally came to be enrolled alongside students as young as 13.

ICE’s move to detain Flores Ortiz had put the agency at odds with Fairfax County officials, including Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, whose policies limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Flores Ortiz’s removal follows an Aug. 10 order from a Justice Department immigration judge directing his deportation.