The teacher arrested in February for allegedly groping two young boys at a Queens school is facing new charges.
Last week, prosecutors claimed Wilbert Cortez, 49, touched the genitals of three more boys—who were 6, 8 and 10 years old—during his time at P.S. 174 in Rego Park.
He was hired as a computer teacher there in 2000, and allegedly abused the five boys some time between 2007 and 2011.
In 2000, school officials investigated Cortez for other charges of groping children while he taught at a Brooklyn school, but police were never notified.
No criminal charges were pressed against Cortez until the accusations of abuse in Rego Park appeared this year.
Including the investigation from 2000, it’s alleged that Cortez sexually abused at least seven boys between the ages of 6 and 10.
“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,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
“Schools should be safe havens where students are protected from harm.”
The two original criminal charges claim Cortez rubbed two boys’ buttocks and genitals through their clothing on multiple occasions.
The three new cases follow the same pattern, but allege even more violation.
In two of the new cases, prosecutors say Cortez touched the genitals of two of his students—aged 6 and 10—over their clothing while they were seated in the classroom.
He also allegedly kept one student after class to help him clean his classroom and continued to grope him.
In the third accusation, prosecutors say Cortez took an 8-year-old male student to the teacher’s bathroom when the student needed to relieve himself.
The bathroom was directly across the hall from Cortez’s computer room.
There, Cortez allegedly put his hands under the boy’s clothing to touch and rub his genitals and buttocks.
The teacher faces up to seven years in prison if he is convicted of the new charges.
He was previously free on $50,000 bail, but was required to post an additional $60,000 after the new accusations and an arraignment on March 30.
His next court appearance will be on June 11 in Queens Criminal Court.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com
