Carlos Corte, of Patchogue, charged with kidnapping 4-year-old girl at a laundromat, ordered held without bail

A Patchogue man accused of luring a 4-year-old girl away from her mother at a Patchogue laundromat in March was remanded to the Suffolk County jail Thursday on a felony kidnapping charge.

Carlos Corte, 38, pleaded not guilty to second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child at his arraignment on a grand jury indictment before State Supreme Court Justice John Collins in Riverhead.

Prosecutors said video surveillance at Laundry Kingdom on East Main Street showed Corte enter the building about noon on March 28 without doing laundry before striking up a conversation with the young girl, whose mother was using a machine nearby.

Ten minutes later, he walked to a back door and encouraged the child to follow him outside, Assistant District Attorney Katherine Flinchum told the judge.

“He was a complete stranger to the child and her family,” the prosecutor said.

After walking through a rear parking lot, Corte allegedly took the girl to the children’s room at the Patchogue-Medford Library, about 100 yards from the laundromat, Flinchum said.

“The child said [Corte] told her he was going to take her to a secret room,” the prosecutor said, adding that the children’s room has a private conference room and bathroom.

Flinchum said Corte told a librarian, who believed him to be the child’s father, that the girl did not have parents and that she followed him to the library.

“Video surveillance shows the opposite,” the prosecutor said.

The girl’s disappearance caused her mother to frantically search downtown, Flinchum said. A witness told her the girl left with Corte in the direction of the library, where she found them minutes later.

Flinchum said Corte “apologized to the mother for taking her child” and admitted to police that he “made a mistake” leaving the laundromat with the girl.

Corte’s arrest and release from custody without monetary bail following his initial arraignment drew the ire of federal immigration authorities, who called the Ecuadorian national's prior appearance a “sanctuary calamity” in a news release. Homeland Security officials said Corte was removed from the United States three times in 2020. He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 31.

Collins said Thursday that the immigration court has agreed to hold off on continuing removal proceedings involving Corte until after the disposition of his criminal case.

Defense attorney Brandon Abbatiello, of the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, said his client has no prior arrests and requested cash bail. Flinchum said his only prior brush with law enforcement was a public urination ticket he received in the Village of Patchogue.

Collins said that due to the seriousness of the kidnapping charge and Corte’s lack of ties to the area he would order him held at the county jail. The judge said the defense could renew its bail arguments at a later date if appropriate, but added that because of the pending immigration case he preferred to keep Corte in Suffolk County.

“I need to have you here in this jurisdiction in order to hopefully resolve your case,” the judge told Corte, who is due back in court June 18.

Prosecutors said Corte is facing between 5 and 25 years in state prison if convicted on the kidnapping charge.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.