A janitor at a Deltona elementary school was arrested Friday on several counts of sexual battery and incest, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

  • Janitor at Volusia elementary school arrested Friday
  • George Cortes faces sexualy battery, incest charges
  • He's a janitor at Timbercrest Elementary in Deltona 

George Cortes, 76, of Deltona, was arrested at about 10:30 a.m. at Timbercrest Elementary School following a Volusia County Sheriff's Office investigation that began in mid-June, deputies said.

Detectives interviewed two young females who stated Cortes sexually battered them during the 2014-2015 time frame. One victim was 15-16 years old during the incidents and the other was 18-19 years old.

According to the investigation, Cortes is accused of sexually battering the older victim on two occasions, coming into her bedroom while she was sleeping and fondling her in bed. Detectives said they also determined Cortes sexually abused the younger victim on two occasions, once by coming into her bedroom where she was sleeping and again when he took her into his own bedroom and sexually battered her.

Detectives said none of the allegations involved any activity on a school campus or any victims from school. However, because of the nature of the allegations and descriptions of Cortes behavior, detectives are asking parents of children who knew Cortes to talk with their children and report anything suspicious to the agency's Child Exploitation Unit at 386-323-3574.

Cortes' charges are three counts of sexual battery on a victim under the age of 18, one count of sexual battery and three counts of incest. Deputies executed a search warrant at Cortes' house on Normandy Boulevard and seized evidence that will be examined as the investigation continues.

Detectives said additional charges are possible.

Cortes was an employee of GCA, a third-party vendor that provides custodial and grounds services for Volusia County Schools. The school district provided the following message to parents earlier Friday:

"Good afternoon parents. This is Mrs. McKinney, principal of Timbercrest Elementary calling to provide you information regarding a GCA custodian who was arrested this morning by the Sheriff's office. None of the charges are related to Timbercrest Elementary; however, he has been a custodian at the school since February 2017. When he was hired, a background check was conducted and he had no prior convictions. Due to this arrest, he will not be permitted to work on any Volusia County School campus. Additional information will be released from the Sheriff's Office."