Ex-Youth Sports Coach Arrested on Suspicion of Sexually Assaulting Teen

A Redwood City man has been arrested for allegedly engaging in oral copulation with a minor.

Julio Edgardo Ortiz, 35, was arrested Friday on suspicion of oral copulation with a minor under 16 years old, oral copulation with a minor with 10 years difference and child endangerment, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

On Friday around 11:30 p.m., two officers with the California Highway Patrol were patrolling Interstate Highway 280 just south of state Highway 92.

The officers stopped to check a rest stop and saw a parked blue 2012 Chevrolet Cruze and approached the car to check on the occupants.

The officers then observed the adult male driver of the vehicle orally copulating a male who appeared to be a juvenile.

The juvenile ended up being 14 years old, and the adult, identified as Ortiz, was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.

Detectives with the sheriff’s office were called to assist in the investigation and learned Ortiz was formerly employed as a sports coach at both Clifford School in Redwood City and Selby Lane School in Atherton.

Detectives said Ortiz also volunteered as a coach with the sheriff’s office activities league.

He was terminated from those agencies in 2014 after being arrested in Santa Clara County for furnishing alcohol to a minor, according to the sheriff’s office.

Detectives are investigating if there are any other juvenile victims connected to the suspect.

Ortiz was arraigned in San Mateo County Superior Court on Tuesday and was being held in custody on $500,000 bail.

Anyone with information on this incident or any other incidents that may involve Ortiz is asked to call the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office at (650) 363-4066.

--Bay City News Service, photo courtesy of the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office