Broward Foot Doctor Back In Court After Sex Abuse Mistrial
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- A new trial has begun for a Broward podiatrist accused of sexually assaulting a teenage babysitter on two occasions inside his home.
A mistrial was declared in February by a Broward circuit judge in the case against Dr. Augustine Bollo, 49, a Weston foot surgeon, after the jury was shown evidence deemed inadmissible in court.
His retrial started up Wednesday.
A jury of nine men and women heard the victim, now 19, tell jurors what happened one night in April 2012 at Bollo's Weston home.
The teen testified that her family and Bollo's family were friends for years.
"We were really close," the victim said. "Our moms were like best friends."
The teen said she was 15 when she babysitting while the two women went out. She said after Bollo returned home, he was going to join the women but decided to take a quick nap. After he awoke, the victim said he decided to stay in and sat next to her on the couch with the 4 kids in the living room.
"He told one of the kids to get him a blanket," the victim testified.
Then, she says, Bollo put the blanket over her and him and took her hand and placed it on his private parts.
"When I was trying not to do anything he was whispering, 'Come on, come on,'" she said.
The teen said the first incident lasted about a minute.
"I just didn't really know what was going on," she said. "I was in shock."
The prosecutor asked, "Did you say anything to him?"
The victim replied, "No. I didn't know what to say. Like there's no one home. All the kids were right there and I didn't want to scream."
The teen said Bollo asked her to join him upstairs and went into his bedroom and gave her $300.
"He says like, hide it and don't tell your parents," the teen testified.
The teen testified that they returned to the couch and Bollo did the same thing again
"He put a blanket over us again and put my hand on him again," the accuser said.
Eventually her mother picked her up and they left. In the following days she admitted what happened. Detectives had her make a recorded phone call to Bollo to see if he would admit to the touching. He didn't and he didn't deny anything either.
"I am sorry that the whole situation happened," Bollo is heard saying on the recording. "Absolutely. I'm sorry about the whole situation, OK? Absolutely. This is a bad situation."
Defense attorney David Bogenschutz says the teen made the whole thing up. Bogenschutz spent several hours of cross-examination pointing out inconsistencies in her story.
But the victim said Bollo should feel bad for what happened.
"What he did was terrible and, like, I thought I deserved an apology," the victim testified.
The trial will continue next Tuesday.
Bollo faces a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted.
