A man is prison-bound after prosecutors said he sexually abused three girls he separately targeted as they shopped with their families at a New York-based T.J. Maxx store.
Jimmy Harry Velasquez Gomez found out his fate on Friday, October 9, as he received three concurrent sentences of six years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release in connection with the incidents at a T.J. Maxx located on Long Island, according to a news release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Velasquez Gomez, 44, who’s a Honduran national, pleaded guilty on August 27 to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, prosecutors said.
“Every parent should be able to let their young child walk to the next aisle at a store without fear,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a statement. “This defendant violated that basic trust three times, targeting young girls in places where they should have been safe.
The charges stem from three separate occasions involving three girls, ages 11, 9 and 7, at a T.J. Maxx in Medford, a Long Island hamlet, according to prosecutors.
During the first incident in April 2025, Velasquez Gomez approached the 7-year-old in the toy aisle of T.J. Maxx after the girl’s mother allowed her to go look at toys, the district attorney’s office said.
In the aisle, he “squeezed her buttocks with his hand,” according to prosecutors.
The girl immediately went to her mother and told her Velasquez Gomez grabbed her, leading to the woman calling the police after she couldn’t locate him in the store, the district attorney’s office said.
Months later, in September 2025, Velasquez Gomez allegedly targeted an 11-year-old girl who was with her parents in T.J. Maxx.
After the child stepped away from her parents to find a gift for a friend, she noticed Velasquez Gomez near her, “holding his genitals through his clothes,” according to prosecutors.
Similar to the first incident, the district attorney’s office said he approached her and “grabbed her buttocks.”
The third child, a 9-year-old girl, who prosecutors said was targeted by Velasquez Gomez was in the toy aisle of T.J. Maxx when he walked over and sexually abused her, according to prosecutors.
“He pulled up the bottom of her sweatshirt and squeezed her buttocks,” the district attorney’s office said, resulting in the girl running to her mother.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage that showed Velasquez Gomez inside the T.J. Maxx during each occurrence of alleged sexual abuse, according to prosecutors. Footage also allegedly captured him touching his genital area while watching the 9-year-old girl.
Velasquez Gomez’s defense attorney, Daniel Belano, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Protection orders were issued to keep Velasquez Gomez away from the girls, prosecutors said. He was also registered as a sex offender.
According to the district attorney’s office, Velasquez Gomez is illegally in the country. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer to take him into custody after he’s released from prison.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
