Man sentenced in groping case

A man convicted of sexual battery against a housekeeper in Tiburon was sentenced to six months in jail and mandatory sex offender registration.

Carlos Cruz-Ortega, 51, of San Francisco was arrested in November after an investigation by the Tiburon Police Department. Cruz-Ortega was a maintenance worker at the same property where the victim is employed.

The victim alleged that Cruz-Ortega forced himself on her in a bedroom at their clients’ home and tried to take her clothes off, according to a sentencing report by the probation department. The residents returned home and Cruz-Ortega stopped the attack.

The housekeeper told her employers and said CruzOrtega had tried to kiss her in the past. The police investigation ensued. Working at the direction of detectives, the victim placed a recorded call to Cruz-Ortega, and he made incriminating statements, according to the probation report.

Cruz-Ortega accepted a plea offer for the 180-day sen

tence. In an interview with a probation officer before the sentencing, Cruz-Ortega expressed remorse and said he had had intimate interactions with the victim on four occasions before the one that led to his arrest.

Judge Geoffrey Howard sentenced CruzOrtega on Thursday in line with the plea deal. The judge also placed him on probation for two years and ordered him to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

With credits for his time in custody and good

behavior, Cruz-Ortega had already satisfied the sentence by Thursday and was eligible for release.

“He is sorry for what he did and begs forgiveness from the victim,” Julio Ramos, the defense attorney for Cruz-Ortega, said after the hearing.

Cruz-Ortega has a 2015 felony conviction in Sonoma County for beating his girlfriend, the probation report said.

“The defendant became upset at the victim for something he read on her cellular phone,” the report said. “The defendant punched the victim three times in her lower jaw and kicked her in the stomach three times.”