NY Foster Parent Charged with Sexually Abusing Boys, Dog

A suburban New York foster parent who cared for up to 140 boys over the past two decades has been charged with sexually abusing seven of them and prosecutors say there are more victims.

Cesar Gonzalez-Mugaburu, 60, of Ridge, New York, on Long Island, was ordered held on $1 million bond Friday after being charged in a 17-count indictment with child endangerment and sexual misconduct. He is accused of victimizing children as young as 8. He is also accused of sexually abusing a female dog in front of a child last September.

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Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota told The Associated Press that Gonzalez-Mugaburu earned as much as $18,000 a month as a foster parent for the children. He cared for between six and eight children at a time since at least 1996, the prosecutor said.

Some of the foster children, some of whom were developmentally disabled, were subsequently adopted by Gonzalez-Mugaburu, although Spota said he did not immediately have details on how many.

He said prosecutors were only able to charge Gonzalez-Mugaburu with abusing seven children in the indictment unsealed Friday, because statute of limitations laws prevent filing charges involving other victims. He said two boys came forward in January and reported the alleged abuse to a caseworker, who contacted police. {snip}

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