(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Carlos Corte, 38, an Ecuadorian national, was indicted for Kidnapping in the Second Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, for allegedly luring a four-year-old child away from her family while they did laundry at a Patchogue laundromat.
“Public safety demands that alleged dangerous predators remain behind bars, not released back into our communities to potentially harm other innocent children,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Thanks to the swift action of ICE, following this defendant’s release, we were able to secure his detention and obtain a grand jury indictment on these serious charges. Our office will aggressively prosecute this case to protect our children and hold this offender fully accountable.”
According to the investigation, on March 28, 2026, at approximately 11:20 a.m., the four-year-old child was with her family at a laundromat in Patchogue when Corte allegedly entered the laundromat without laundry. Corte, who does not know the family, allegedly approached the child and spoke to her in the rear vestibule for almost 10 minutes. He then allegedly held the door open, gestured for the child to come with him, and left the building with her.
Corte allegedly walked the child through downtown Patchogue, at one point holding her hand. He then allegedly took her to the children’s department of the Patchogue-Medford Library where there are multiple private conference rooms and a family bathroom. The librarians, who believed Corte to be the child’s father, greeted them, but Corte allegedly did not respond. A few minutes later, Corte allegedly told the librarians that the child had followed him to the library, and the librarians immediately notified security.
The child’s mother, upon discovering that her daughter was missing, frantically searched the area with help from witnesses who saw the child walking with a man, and directed her to the library. There, the mother found her daughter with Corte, who allegedly apologized for taking the child. The child later disclosed that Corte allegedly indicated that he was going to take her to a “secret room.” The defendant was arrested a short time later after returning to the laundromat.
Following the arrest, on March 29, 2026, Corte was arraigned on a complaint charging him with Kidnapping in the Second Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The court ordered Corte’s release with GPS monitoring, despite the District Attorney’s request for bail in the amount of $150,000 cash, $300,000 bond, or $1.5 million partially secured bond.
After discussion with the District Attorney’s Office, on March 31, 2026, Corte was apprehended and detained by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for allegedly entering the United States illegally from Ecuador. ICE officials informed the District Attorney’s Office that they had arrested Corte and the assigned Assistant District Attorney obtained a writ from the court to bring Corte back to Suffolk County to face these charges.
On May 14, 2026, Corte was arraigned on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins for Kidnapping in the Second Degree, a Class B violent felony, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor. Justice Collins ordered Corte remanded during the pendency of the case.
Corte is due back in court on June 18, 2026, and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count. He is being represented by the Legal Aid Society.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katherine Flinchum of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Michael Richardsen of the Suffolk County Police Department, with assistance from Detective Terence Slane of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Electronic Investigations Section.