New Charges May Come For Gymnastics Coach
AURORA, Ill. (CBS) -- More charges could be coming against former Aurora gymnastics coach Michael Cardamone, who spent three years in prison for molesting young girls.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Debra Dale reports, an attorney for Cardamone, 33, says he has been told by prosecutors to expect additional charges.
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The Aurora Beacon-News says prosecutors have offered no details.
Cardamone was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005 for fondling seven girls, ages 7 to 12, at his mother's Aurora gymnasium, the American Institute of Gymnastics. Prosecutors accused Cardamone of inappropriately touching the girls during stretching exercises and in a private room at the institute, where he coached for nine years.
But Cardamone spent only three years in prison before the Illinois Appellate Court tossed his conviction and ordered a new trial.
Cardamone has long maintained his innocence and that sloppy police work and an overaggressive prosecutor's office from DuPage County botched the criminal case.
Cardamone's attorney has asked for a delay in the retrial while Cardamone's family tries to recover from a fire last week at the gym where he used to teach, located at 881 Shoreline Dr. in Aurora.
Damage from the fire is estimated at $1.2 million.
The fire broke out at 4 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, less than 12 hours before last week's blizzard began.
Cardamone was present when firefighters were battling the blaze. He said the heat was so intense that lights melted and the metal joists expanded, pushing out the sides of the wall. He praised firefighters who "had to work in a large pitch-black area, stepping around mats, pits, trampolines, bars and beams."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
