RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on the acquittal of a New York foster father on child sex abuse and other charges (all times local):
3:05 p.m.
The attorney for a New York foster parent acquitted of sex abuse and other charges predicts his client will never get his reputation back.
Donald Mates says Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu will never be known as an innocent man who was wrongly charged.
A Long Island jury on Tuesday cleared Gonzales-Mugaburu of all 17 counts against him.
Gonzales-Mugaburu had cared for more than 100 boys over 20 years. He was accused of sexually abusing six of them and endangering two others.
Many of the boys had mental, intellectual, emotional and behavioral issues.
He says his client was “in total disbelief” when the jury issued its verdict.
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1:55 p.m.
The foreman of a jury that acquitted a New York foster parent of sex abuse and other charges involving children he cared for says there were too many holes in the prosecution’s case.
Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu was cleared Tuesday of all 17 counts against him.
Newsday (https://nwsdy.li/2qpaAFW ) reports that Tim Carney said he had voted not guilty on all counts from the beginning of the seven-day deliberations.
Carney said he believed the testimony of some of the accusers, but the prosecution did not put forth evidence to support those accounts.
Gonzales-Mugaburu had cared for more than 100 boys over 20 years. He was accused of sexually abusing six of them and endangering two others.
Many of the boys had mental, intellectual, emotional and behavioral issues.
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12:05 p.m.
A New York foster parent who took in more than 100 boys over two decades and was accused of sexually abusing some of them has been acquitted of all charges.
A Suffolk County jury returned the not-guilty verdicts Tuesday following seven days of deliberations.
Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu (gahn-ZAH’-leyz moo-gah-BOO’-roo) was acquitted on 17 counts of sex abuse and other charges. His attorney argued that eight former foster children had lied.
Prosecutors contended the crimes occurred between 1996 and 2016. The children had mental, intellectual, emotional and behavioral issues.
If he had been convicted of the most serious charges, Gonzales-Mugaburu could have faced 25 years to life in prison.
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This story has been corrected to show Gonzales-Mugaburu was charged with sexually abusing six children and endangering two, not sexually abusing eight children.
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