'House of horrors' foster dad racks up predatory sexual assault charges as 14-year-old victim’s guardian sues agency that placed him in home

A Long Island man already accused of sexually abusing young male foster children who were living in his home was hit with stiffer charges Thursday that could put him behind bars for life.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spoda disclosed the new predatory sexual assault charges by a special grand jury looking at how county, state and New York City officials could have kept sending disabled foster kids to the home of Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu after multiple complaints that he was abusing kids.

The new charges come as a legal guardian for a 14-year-old Washington boy filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against SCO Family Services, the nonprofit group that local governments used to place the boys in Mugaburu's home and to monitor his care.

The suit alleges SCO “turned a blind eye" to complaints about Mugaburu, who was arrested last spring and charged with molesting five foster boys and two sons he had adopted.

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"This is a horrifying case of neglect by a system that shuttles voiceless victims into abusive conditions," said lawyer Richard Emery, who filed the negligence suit Wednesday in Long Island Federal Court.

Over the past 20 years, Mugaburu took in approximately 140 foster kids, mostly boys, and 71 were placed by SCO.

Mugaburu, who is single and unemployed, not only preyed on vulnerable youngsters to satisfy his monstrous impulses, but by adopting children with special needs or disabilities, he also collected more money from the foster care agencies, the suit contends. Mugaburu pocketed $2,400-per-month for each child and as much as $230,000 annually.

He used the foster care payments to purchase a home valued at over $300,000, and six vehicles — including two Mercedes-Benz sedans and a vintage sports car, according to the suit.

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Yet, neighbors recalled seeing his children rooting around in garbage for food as they were allegedly fed only twice a day.

The plaintiff, identified only by his initials J.A., was 11 years old and originally from Washington State, when he was placed with Mugaburu by SCO Family of Services in 2013.

He was subject to “daily physical and verbal abuse and periods of starvation” by Mugaburu, who also attempted to sexually assault the boy, the suit alleges.

“He isolated them from their peers, forced them to eat off of the floor when he did provide food, verbally abused them on a daily basis and even engaged in bestiality in front of at least one child," the boy's legal guardian, Bruce Wolf, said in the court filing.

Emery said there were numerous red flags about Mugaburu that were ignored by the nonprofit agency — including that there were more than 30 complaints against him alleging abuse and that he was barred from being a foster parent by the Suffolk County foster agency at the same time SCO continued sending kids into his "house of horrors," the suit states.

Mugaburu, 59, had filed for bankruptcy twice, had no income other than the foster payments and a long line of creditors after him for payments on his 30 credit cards. All of these factors should have alerted SCO Family of Services that Mugaburu was an unsuitable foster parent and motivated to take in children by greed, the suit states.

In a statement, SCO said its “highest priority is the safety and well-being of children in our care,” and a “recent independent investigation concluded that SCO staff had no knowledge of physical, sexual or emotional abuse” involving Mugaburu.

“SCO will continue to take very seriously any allegations and cooperate with all inquiries and investigations” into Mugaburu’s home, the company said.

The horrific allegations against Mugaburu — and that he couldn’t be charged with some of the older allegations against him because of statute-of-limitations issues — triggered a larger push by child-sex victims to help pass legislation in Albany — that later failed — on extending time limits in criminal and civil cases.
Credit to:(nydailynews.com)