Patchogue man made ‘secret room’ promise to lure girl, 4, in kidnapping, DA says

A Patchogue man told a 4-year-old girl he was taking her to a “secret room” after allegedly kidnapping her from a laundromat and holding her hand through downtown Patchogue, Suffolk prosecutors said

Carlos Corte, 38, eventually brought the girl to the children’s area at the Patchogue-Medford Library on Main Street, where staff initially believed he was the child’s father, according to prosecutors.

Library employees became suspicious, however, after Corte allegedly told them the child had followed him into the building.

While workers alerted authorities, the girl’s mother had started frantically searching after realizing her daughter was missing. She was directed to the library by witnesses who saw her daughter walking with Corte.

The mother found her daughter there with Corte, and the child was safely recovered, police said.

Corte entered the business without laundry, approached the girl in a rear vestibule and spoke with her for nearly 10 minutes before opening a door, gesturing for her to come with him and leaving the building with the child, Tierney said.

He then allegedly walked the girl through downtown Patchogue, before taking her to the library. At some point, he promised to take the little girl to a “secret room,” authorities said.

Corte was arrested a short time later — after returning to the laundromat, Suffolk Police said. He was initially arraigned on a felony charge the following day and released with GPS monitoring despite prosecutors requests for bail.

Two days later, the suspect was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, authorities said, after they determined the Ecuadorian national had allegedly entered the country illegally.

A Suffolk County grand jury subsequently indicted Corte on charges of second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned Thursday and ordered to be held in jail without bail.

Tierney said, “Public safety demands that alleged dangerous predators remain behind bars, not released back into our communities to potentially harm other innocent children.”

Corte is due back in court June 18 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.

_{Top: The stairwell that leads to the children’s area of Patchogue-Medford Library in Patchogue (Brian Harmon photo).}