Jury deadlocked in Ridge foster father sex abuse trial

<p>A jury deciding the fate of a Ridge foster father charged with sexually abusing several young boys in his care appears to be deadlocked after five days of deliberations.</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 28, 2017, 10:39 PM

Updated 2,553 days ago

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Jury deadlocked in Ridge foster father sex abuse trial
A jury deciding the fate of a Ridge foster father charged with sexually abusing several young boys in his care appears to be deadlocked after five days of deliberations.
Cesar Gonzalez-Mugaburu, 60, is accused in a 17-count indictment of sexually molesting six foster sons and endangering the welfare of two others between 1996 and 2015.
On Thursday, day four of deliberations, the jury told Judge Barbara Kahn they were deadlocked, but Kahn ordered them to continue working. Late in the day Friday, they asked the judge for a reread of three witness testimonies -- two from doctors and another from a school psychologist who testified that two of the alleged victims complained to him about not wanting to go home and that the boys grew angry when talking about their foster father.
Over the course of two decades, more than 100 boys, many of them mentally ill, were placed in Gonzalez-Mugaburu's care. Six of them described a horror house, testifying that they were threatened, raped, deprived of food and physically assaulted by Gonzalez-Mugaburu.
The most serious charge against Gonzalez-Mugaburu is predatory sexual assault against a child, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.
Deliberations are expected to continue on Monday.


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