Say Rego Pk. Teacher Molested 5 Boys
Booked in February for allegedly sexually assaulting two boys at the Rego Park school where he taught, a 49-year-old computer teacher has been additionally accused of molesting three other students over a four-year period, according to prosecutors.
Wilbert Cortez, 49, of Rego Park, who taught at P.S. 174 at 65-10 Dieterle Crescent, was arraigned last Wednesday night, May 30, in Queens Criminal Court before Judge Deborah Modica on additional charges of first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.
Cortez-who had been out on $50,000 bail following his Feb. 16 arrest for allegedly molesting two boys, now ages eight and nine, in his classroom between September 2010 and June 2011-was ordered by Modica held on $60,000 bail and to return to court on June 11. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the new charges, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown stated.
“These are serious accusations in which a school teacher-who should serve as a role model to students-is instead accused of using his position to gain access to children for his own gratification,” Brown said in a statement. “Schools should be safe havens where students are protected from harm.”
Based on the results of an ongoing investigation by police, Cortez was charged last Wednesday with allegedly fondling the genitalia of two students, ages six and 10, as they were seated inside his classroom at times between 2007 and 2011.
In another incident, it was reported, the teacher fondled the 10- year-old boy’s genitalia and buttocks over his clothing as the youngster helped to clean up the classroom following class.
Law enforcement sources said Cortez attacked a third student, who was eight years old, as he escorted him to the teacher’s bathroom, located across the hall from his classroom.
After opening the door for the student, according to the charges, the suspect allegedly followed the child, then rubbed his genitals and buttocks under the boy’s clothes.
Cortez faces up to seven years behind bars if convicted of the sexual misconduct and child endangerment charges filed against him in February for the alleged molestation of the eight- and nine-year-old boys in the previous incidents.
Published reports indicated that Cortez, who was reassigned by the Department of Education (DOE) to a non-teaching position following his February arrest, was accused back in 2000 of “inappropriately touching” two youngsters while teaching at P.S. 184 in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Soon after a disciplinary letter was filed by the DOE, he was reportedly transferred to Rego Park’s P.S. 174.
Det. Carlos Almonte of the NYPD Queens Child Abuse Squad conducted the investigation under the supervision of Sergeants George Fountoulakis and Keri Thompson and the overall supervision of Lt. Kesha Johnson.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lucinda C. Suarez, deputy bureau chief of the D.A.’s Special Victims Bureau, and Lauren R. Parson of the bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher, bureau chief.
