BOSTON (WHDH) - A former youth baseball coach is once again facing child rape charges in Boston after being returned from the Dominican Republic, where he had been deported in the middle of court proceedings five years ago.
Jose “Brujo” Ortega, 48, formerly of Roslindale, was brought to Suffolk Superior Court on a default warrant Monday for three counts of rape of a child under 16, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, one count of open and gross lewdness and one count of providing obscene material to a minor. He was held on $100,000 bail and will be back in court on Sept. 23.
From 2003 to 2010, Ortega allegedly assaulted a child while he was the manager of the Boston Broncos youth baseball league, prosecutors with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said. Ortega allegedly refused to let the child play in games if he did not give in to Ortega’s advances, prosecutors said.
Ortega was convicted of child enticement in 2012 for actions toward another member of the youth league and was indicted and arraigned on the current charges in 2014. But his bail was reduced to personal recognizance in May 2014, prosecutors said, and before a June court date he had been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported.
After Ortega was arrested in the Dominican Republic on a default warrant in June 2019, he was ultimately extradited to the U.S.
“I’m grateful to the prosecutors, police, and federal partners who worked to help us hold an alleged child predator accountable,” District Attorney Rachel Rollins said in a statement. “We want to hold serious offenders accountable regardless of their immigration status. This means keeping the accused here for their prosecution and incarceration, not allowing a defendant to evade the reach of our laws by being returned to his or her country of origin prior to trial and completion of any sentence.”
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