May 15, 2006

Man acquitted of molesting girl sues, cites other false claims

BRIDGEPORT (CT)
WTNH

(Bridgeport-AP, May 14, 2006 3:40 PM) _ A handyman who was jailed on charges of molesting a 4-year-old girl at a synagogue in 2000 and acquitted in a second trial is suing the parents.

Alfredo Vargas is winning support from a rabbi and another family who say the same parents made sexual abuse accusations against their children, though no one else was prosecuted.

The 69-year-old Vargas spent about five years in prison fighting the case. Leaders of a Bridgeport synagogue say that after he was convicted, the parents of the girl won a settlement that gave them the synagogue that Vargas had built by hand.

Within weeks of the settlement, Vargas was acquitted of the charges in a second trial in January. He was deported back home to Nicaragua.

Posted by kshaw at May 15, 2006 01:15 PM