Foster Father Returns To Suffolk County Home Following Acquittal In Sex Abuse Case

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Long Island jury has acquitted a former foster father who was accused of sexually abusing and endangering eight boys in his care.

Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu was found not guilty on all charges Tuesday following seven days of deliberations.

Gonzales-Mugaburu fostered more than 100 boys over two decades at his home on a cul de sac in Ridge, Suffolk County. He was given over $1.5 million in tax-free money for taking in the foster children.

Gonzales-Mugaburu was cleared of 17 counts involving abuse of the children. Many of the boys had mental, intellectual, emotional and behavioral issues.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, Gonzales-Mugaburu was already back at his boarded up home -- left vacant while he spent 14 months in jail.

"Cesar is obviously very happy, very emotional. He is not going to say anything. I want to thank the jury and take Cesar home," defense attorney Donald Mates said.

Mates said his client wants his good name back after it was smeared by the heinous allegations.

Several boys, many now young men, testified against the 60-year-old.

One man testified that Gonzales-Mugaburu molested him for about three years beginning when he was 10. The man, now 21, said it left him confused.

The defense attorney called it "a witch hunt," saying the boys are all troubled and their testimony was false.

"It's the quality of the evidence, not the quantity of the evidence, you should be focusing on," Mates told jurors.

Jury foreman Tim Carney said he voted not guilty on all counts from the beginning because there were too many holes in the prosecution's case.

"I could not put a man away for the rest of his life on what they gave us — the evidence they produced," Carney said.

Some said a hung jury was not an option.

"It was a long six weeks, " Gregory Condemi said, "Long difficult deliberations, sleepless nights, difficult work. Ultimately we tried to do what we were tasked to do, follow the law."

The panel had been split until all agreed there was not enough evidence to convict.

"Lack of information, not enough to work with. You hear something like this and the numbers were overwhelming so you automatically think one way, but then the judge tells you what your job is. It puts everything into perspective," Louise Cocoran said.

Gonzales-Mugaburu had even been accused of sexually abusing the family dog.

He did not take the stand during the trial, and could've faced 25 years to life in prison if he had been convicted of the most serious charged.

Prosecutors had painted the Ridge man as a monster and blamed the foster care system for lax oversight at his home.

An 83-page report released by Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota this year contended systemic failures allowed Gonzales-Mugaburu to take in more than 100 children over 20 years. It noted that he had been the subject of 18 child abuse investigations. None of those investigations led to criminal charges until his arrest in January 2016. He has been held without bail since.

"We are extremely disappointed with the Mugaburu verdict. We will continue to pursue justice in cases involving the sexual abuse of children which often means pursuing cases based upon the information from the victim of the abuse sometimes years after the crimes when limited corroborative evidence is still available. For those discouraged by this outcome, it is important to guard against any chilling effect that might result; especially a reluctance to report abuse," Spota said.

Mates said he disagreed with the findings in the report. There never was any reason for the agencies to fail to uncover abuse because, he said, it never happened.

Mates also said that at least some of the accusers had a financial reason to see Gonzales-Mugaburu convicted because they have filed lawsuits against an agency that placed them in his home.

Prosecutors called it a difficult case, and in the end were deflated by a shocking verdict.

"What the defendant said would happen, the children wouldn't be believed, came to pass," Assist Suffolk County D.A. Dari Schwartz said.

Neighbors -- some of who testified -- were visibly upset to learn about the verdict, and that Gonzales-Mugaburu is back.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)