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Posted: Saturday, 11 July 2009 4:49PM
Ex-soccer coach acquitted in sex case
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- A former professional soccer player from Argentina has been acquitted of charges of sexually molesting a Naperville girl who played on the youth soccer team the man coached five years ago.
A Will County Circuit Court jury on Friday declared Oswego resident Gustavo D. Nicosia not guilty of a total of 15 felony counts of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Nicosia, 38, was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice after the weeklong trial in Judge Richard C. Schoenstedt's courtroom.
Jurors apparently did not believe the testimony of the alleged victim, who told Naperville police Nicosia performed sex acts with her and inappropriately touched her on several occasions between July 2004 and January 2005. The girl was 15 at the time and a member of an America's Soccer Club team in Naperville that Nicosia was then coaching.
Defense attorney Dave Carlson told The Naperville Sun on Friday evening the girl admitted from the witness stand that she lied when she told authorities of being molested.
Naperville police Detective Charles Baker also testified during the trial. Carlson said Baker and a team of five other Naperville police investigators "flat-out admitted they made stories up" to tell Nicosia in an attempt to coerce a confession from him.
"Baker admitted they fabricated stories to tell the defendant about his alleged sexual acts, acts that never occurred," Carlson said. Nicosia "never admitted to a single, specific act" alleged by police, Carlson said.
"They told [Nicosia] they had evidence that never existed," Carlson said of police. "They claimed there were items of evidence that might contain [Nicosia's] DNA, and that they had other documents that might be incriminating."
"None of this stuff ever existed," Carlson repeated, characterizing the police conduct as "messed up."
Carlson's assertions were dismissed Friday night by Naperville police Cmdr. John Gustin, who oversees the department's youth services section.
"We do not concur" with Carlson's interpretation of the case facts or the conclusions he has drawn, Gustin said.
"It is our position that counselor Carlson's position is inaccurate and prejudiced toward his client," Gustin said. "There was no recanting [of testimony] by the victim, and the allegation of fabrication of evidence [by police] is inaccurate."
Gustin said Nicosia was convicted of obstruction of justice because there was "a piece of clothing, physical evidence that at one time existed and could've been critical to the prosecution."
Nicosia "had asked the victim to destroy that particular piece of evidence," Gustin said. The article of clothing was never located, but Gustin said its existence was validated by the fact that jurors convicted Nicosia of the obstruction of justice charge.
"We were confident of the case that we presented and we fully believed that the evidence and testimony were sufficient for a conviction of the defendant, and we were sincerely disappointed in the decision rendered in court," Gustin said. Baker, too, was "seriously disappointed in the decision and stands by our original charges," Gustin said.
Charles B. Pelkie, spokesman for Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, was out of his office last week and unavailable for comment on the case.
Nicosia last lived at 537 Litchfield Way in Oswego. He played during his career with professional soccer teams in Argentina, Italy and Chicago, and worked in recent years in youth-oriented programs at Neuqua Valley High School, the Naperville Lightning Soccer Club and the Galaxy Soccer Club, all in Naperville; and Face 2 Face Soccer in Oswego.
The alleged victim told police the abuse occurred in Nicosia's vehicle and at several Naperville parks and athletic fields.
A mother of a girl who played soccer under Nicosia's tutelage wrote in a May 2007 letter to The Sun of having seen Nicosia giving players "inappropriately long hugs," as well as unsupervised rides to and from practice sessions and games.
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