NEW YORK
Newsday
By Zachary R. Dowdy zachary.dowdy@newsday.com
Southampton Town police on Saturday arrested a former priest who they said fled the country in 2014 as detectives centered on him in their investigation into the sexual assault of a young girl in Hampton Bays, officials said.
Augusto Cortez, 53, was arrested by Southampton police at Kennedy Airport after he was extradited to the United States from Guatemala, police and Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
He was being held without bail after he pleaded not guilty Monday during his arraignment on an indictment for first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child before Acting Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kahn, Spota and police said.
Cortez was being represented by the Legal Aid Society, which does not comment on cases.
He had been indicted in October 2014 in connection with acts that authorities said took place in June 2014.
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