High bail set for suspect in Northport groping case

Citing a man's status as an undocumented immigrant, a Northport judge ordered him held on $500,000 bail, the highest bail in the village court's history, at his arraignment on charges of groping a 16-year-old neighbor.

Juan Gutierres, 33, is a landscaper and a native of Honduras, according to Northport police. A prosecutor at the arraignment earlier this month asked for high bail because Gutierres is considered a flight risk, said Suffolk County district attorney's office spokesman Robert Clifford.

On Aug. 7, Northport police responded to a call at a Fort Salonga Road apartment where they found Gutierres had entered a neighbor's apartment through a bathroom window and went into a 16-year-old girl's bedroom, where he began touching the girl's back, said Northport police Officer Robert Ramonetti.

Responding police found Gutierres locked inside the girl's bedroom while the girl and her mother held the door shut, Ramonetti said, and added that Gutierres appeared to be drunk.

The girl declined medical treatment after the incident, according to Ramonetti.

Gutierres was arraigned by village Associate Justice Ralph Crafa on Aug. 7 on charges of second-degree burglary, third-degree sexual abuse, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and unlawful imprisonment, and is being held at Riverhead county jail until his next court date on Aug. 30. He was represented by Legal Aid, which declined to comment.

Gutierres is also being investigated by federal immigration agents, Clifford said.