SHOCK VERDICT
FOSTER DAD CLEARED OF MONSTROUS ABUSE
A LONG ISLAND jury, after seven tumultuous and teary days, delivered a stunning acquittal to a man charged with sexually abusing his foster sons over a period of 19 years.
The Suffolk County panel found defendant Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu not guilty of 17 criminal counts for what prosecutors had called a relentless reign of sexual abuse and terror.
“Difficult deliberations, sleepless nights, very difficult work,” juror Gregory Condemi, 59, of Ridge, L.I., said after the verdict was read. “People were physically ill. One girl had high blood pressure.
“There was dizziness, fainting, stomach problems.”
The cascade of “not guilty” for each charge came despite graphic and grotesque testimony of rampant sexual and physical abuse from all eight of the foster kids inside the defendant’s Ridge home.
Gonzales-Mugaburu, 60, stood silently with tears welling in his eyes outside the courthouse after the jury let him walk. He faced up to 50 years in prison.
In contrast, one of his foster kids, 29-year-old Mark Gonzales-Mugaburu, was left devastated and weeping by the verdict.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Mark, who was legally adopted by his foster dad. “Our fight, our testimony just went down the drain. He always had the system wrapped around his pinky. He did it again.”
Even worse, he said, was the worry that none of the boys were safe anymore.
“We have to live with this fear for the rest of our lives, that we got physically, mentally and sexually abused — and he’s a free man today,” he said.
The eyes of several jurors were also glistening when they returned with the verdict at 11:30 a.m.
Jury foreman Tim Carney, after reading the verdicts aloud, said the jury was divided for days before finally reaching a consensus.
“It was hard, a lot of emotions in the room,” said Carney, 48, of Islip. “It was tough.”
But he and other jurors agreed that prosecutors, despite doing a good job, never proved their case against Gonzales-Mugaburu.
Some cited a lack of physical evidence to back up the vile stories told by the young witnesses. Others wondered why some potential prosecution witnesses — including the case’s main investigator, Suffolk police Detective Michelle DiMartino — were not called.
“It was kind of a cliffhanger,” said juror Louise Corcoran, 48, of West Islip. “We were waiting for the rest of the story. It never came.”
DiMartino, who interviewed all the alleged victims during the police investigation, declined comment when asked why she wasn’t called to testify. “All I can say is that it’s horrendous,” she told the Daily News.
DiMartino’s name came up several times during the trial, but prosecutors repeatedly refused to say why the detective didn’t take the stand.
The jurors were initially split 10-2 in favor of an acquittal, and needed a full seven days to reach a consensus.
The boys testified that they were raped and sexually assaulted at Gonzales-Mugaburu’s whim, and subjected to physical and emotional abuse.
In contrast, Gonzales-Mugaburu declined to take the witness stand in his own defense in the trial that began March 29. He was accused of sexually abusing six of the youngsters, and endangering the welfare of the other two.
Prosecutors acknowledged they were blindsided by the jury’s decision.
“We’re surprised with the verdict,” said Dari Schwartz, Suffolk district attorney bureau chief of child abuse and domestic violence.
“We’re disappointed in it,” she continued. “The children weren’t believed. It was heartbreaking and I imagine when the children
hear the verdict they too will be broken.”
None of the defendant’s accusers were in the courtroom to hear the verdict.
Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu returned to his suburban home after the verdict. Ignoring a “CONDEMNED” sign, he climbed in through a basement window. The house was condemned in January after falling into disrepair. But Gonzales-Mugaburu was allowed to remain after a visit from the Suffolk County police.
His lawyer, Donald Mates, tossed three bags of clothes over a fence around the property.
“Obviously he’s very happy, very emotional,” said Mates outside the courtroom. “We can just hope he gets his good name back after it’s been smeared over the past year and a half.”
Gonzales-Mugaburu would likely have faced additional accusers, but the state’s statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases had run out on some of the children’s claims.
The News led the fight last year to pass the Child Victims Act, which would eliminate the current law requiring child sex abuse victims to seek criminal charges or civil penalties by age 23.
The legislation, first introduced in 2006, has failed to pass on five occasions.
Prosecutors charged the defendant turned perversion into profit, raking as much as $18,000 a month in city and state foster care payments for taking the boys into his home.
During his two decades as a foster dad, Gonzales-Mugaburu took in as many as 140 children into the home — and collected more than $1.5 million.
He was arrested in March 2015 after two of the kids reported the sexual abuse charges to a caseworker. It marked the first prosecution of Gonzales-Mugaburu despite 18 earlier child abuse investigations.
Gonzales-Mugaburu’s Long Island neighbors were less than enthused to see him back.
“I’m stunned, stunned by the outcome,” said resident Anne Lange. “The kids made no impression at all? I feel like the kids got no justice at all.”
She and husband Mike, a retired Suffolk police officer, noted the local school bus drops students off right next to the acquitted man’s house.
The 70-year-old ex-cop said he wished the boys in the house had spoken with him.
“The kids never said a word to me,” he said. “I had a police car parked right outside for years. It didn’t stop it.”
I’m at a loss for words, Our fight, our testimony just went down the drain. He always had the system wrapped around his pinky. MARK GONZALES-MUGABURU, FOSTER SON