East Islip man pleads guilty to groping three children inside Medford TJ Maxx

Suffolk prosecutors announced that a Honduran national pleaded guilty this week to groping three children inside a Medford TJ Maxx over the course of six months in 2025.

Jimmy Harry Velasquezgomez, 44, of East Islip admitted to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse before Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis on Wednesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.

“This defendant deliberately targeted innocent children as they went about their daily lives, exploiting their vulnerability for his own sickening purposes,” the prosecutor said. “My office will not tolerate predators who threaten the trust and security that Suffolk County families deserve.”

Tierney said the first incident happened on April 19, 2025, when a 7-year-old girl was shopping with her mother and got permission to browse the toy aisle alone. Velasquezgomez approached the child and grabbed her buttocks, according to the DA’s office. The girl ran back to her mother, who called police but could not find the defendant in the store.

On Sept. 20, an 11-year-old girl shopping with her parents noticed Velasquezgomez nearby, holding his genitals through his clothes, authorities said. He then walked past her and grabbed her buttocks before leaving the store. Her family called police.

The third incident happened Oct. 29, when a 9-year-old girl asked her mother for permission to look at toys on the far side of an aisle. Tierney said Velasquezgomez passed the child, looked down the aisle several times, then approached her, lifted her sweatshirt and squeezed her buttocks. The girl ran to her mother.

Suffolk Police detectives pulled surveillance video that placed Velasquezgomez at the scene on all three dates. Investigators said the footage also showed him touching himself while staring at the 9-year-old.

Velasquezgomez was arrested Nov. 1 in East Islip and has been in jail ever since. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9, when he faces three concurrent six-year prison terms followed by 10 years of post-release supervision.

He’ll be subject to stay-away orders protecting each victim and has been certified as a sex offender.

Anyone who believes their child may have been victimized by Velasquezgomez is asked to contact the DA’s Special Victims Section at 631-852-6184.

_{Top: Jimmy Harry Velasquezgomez booking photo provided by the SCDA}