Seymour sex offender violates probation with TikTok posts

The victims in the case were 10 and 9 years old, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein said in court Thursday.

MILFORD — A New Haven man convicted of sexually assaulting two minors in Seymour in 2014 was sentenced to five months of time served Thursday for violating his probation in connection with photos he posted to TikTok showing him smoking cannabis and having unsupervised conduct with minors.

Juan Ortiz, 48, appeared before Judge Peter Brown at Superior Court in Milford. He admitted violating the 15-year probationary term he had been serving since his release from prison in August 2018 in connection with the sexual assault case, in which he received a 20-year prison sentence in February 2015 to be suspended after he served five years behind bars for two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a minor.

The victims in the case were 10 and 9 years old, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein said in court Thursday. The prosecutor said Ortiz’s probation included terms of no contact with minors or drug use.

Last August, Stein said, Ortiz’s probation officer received an alert that a phone number associated with Ortiz was also associated with a TikTok account, in violation of a “computer access agreement” in the case.

“The probation officer went to the TikTok site and examined it and found pictures of the defendant posing with minors,” Stein said, noting the photos were not sexually explicit. “He was also observed in photographs smoking marijuana.”

The prosecutor said that when confronted, Ortiz said the minors depicted in the photos were children of his girlfriend.

“Do you agree with those facts as they were stated by the prosecutor?” the judge asked Ortiz.

“Yes, your honor,” Ortiz replied.

A plea deal in the case called for Ortiz, who was being held on $50,000 bond, to be sentenced to five months of time served in the case and continued on probation.

The prosecutor warned Ortiz not to have any further contact with minors unless approved by a probation officer, or use marijuana, even though it is now legal in Connecticut.

“You understand all that, Mr. Ortiz?” the judge asked.

“Yes sir, I do,” said Ortiz.