FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Dr. Augustine Bollo has been found guilty of one count of lewd and lascivious molestation on his children’s baby sitter and faces up to 15 years in prison.
The jury turned in their unanimous verdict at around 5 p.m., Friday.
The jury began deliberating about three hours earlier, not long after closing arguments finished.
Dr. Augustine Bollo blew a kiss goodbye to his family as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
When he took the stand in his re-trial, Thursday, Bollo said his baby sitter, who was 15 at the time, never touched his penis, despite accusations that he took her hand and forced her to touch him under a blanket in April of 2012.
Testifying in his defense, Thursday, the Weston foot doctor said his youngest son was sitting in his lap the entire time, and he never forced the baby sitter to touch him.
“This girl never touched my penis. She never saw my penis, felt my penis. It never happened,” said Bollo. “I went through this over and over again with them in these phone calls, and I don’t know how many times I can tell these people, this never happened.”
Bollo’s daughter, who would have been in the room at the time of the alleged incident, also appeared in court Thursday. She said she saw nothing happen and drew a sketch of the room at the time of the alleged incident.
When cross-examined later Thursday by the prosecution, Bollo reiterated that he did nothing wrong. “That wasn’t the story that you guys are trying to get,” Bollo told the prosecutor. “The story was, of course, our families have been friends for a long time, and this is a terrible situation that I did not do. I’m not sure what was happening, but we wanted to get it over with.”
The baby sitter’s mother, who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera. spoke to 7News outside the courtroom, Friday evening. “I’m very thankful that the jury came back with the just verdict,” she said, “and that my daughter has now been able to put this matter behind her.”
Testifying in court last week, the baby sitter told prosecutor she was forced to touch Bollo’s genitals at his Weston home. “He was grabbing it, and I was trying to, like, keep my hand stiff,” she said.
When the prosecutor asked her whether she was able to keep her hand away from the doctor’s private parts, she replied, “No, like, he forced it around.”
The baby sitter also accused Bollo of paying her to keep quiet about the incident shortly after it allegedly occurred. In surveillance video prosecutors acquired during their investigation, Bollo is heard telling the alleged victim and her mother, “I apologize for the whole situation sincerely and, um, you have nothing to worry about as far as me, in the future or anything like that.”
Walking out of the courtroom, Bollo’s family declined to comment, However, a male relative gave 7News cameras a rude hand gesture.
It took two trials to convict Bollo. The first ended in a mistrial.
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