Riverhead, NY - April 25, 2017 - A defrocked priest who fled to South America in 2014 to avoid arrest for allegedly sexually abusing a female juvenile on the east end pleaded not guilty on Monday, April 24 at his arraignment before Judge Barbara Kahn in Riverhead, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
Augusto Cortez, 53, pleaded not guilty to the three charges in the indictment; Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
The court remanded the defendant without bail and set a return date of May 15. A temporary order of protection was issued for the victim.
Cortez is a registered sex offender having been convicted of forcible touching in Brooklyn in 2009. District Attorney Spota said the crimes alleged in the indictment occurred in June of 2014 and Cortez was indicted by a grand jury in October of that year.
Southampton Town police arrested the defendant April 22 when he was returned to the US from Guatemala.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.