A Florida man spent 35 days in prison and was banned from seeing his wife and children for close to three months after he was accused of raping his son.
Jose Cordero, 50, was arrested on October 30 after two detectives with the Hialeah Police Department were informed that a seven-year-old student with autism had told his teacher that he was being sexually abused at his home.
Once the detectives arrived at James Bright Elementary School, Saul Fumero informed them that the minor boy had begun revealing things in a diary, which he wrote in using the controversial and unaccredited ‘hand over hand’ technique.
Hand over hand is also known as facilitated communication and is a way of helping the non-verbal communicate. A facilitator helps the person touch or point to letters on a keyboard and holds their hand, wrist, arm or other body part.
Fumero insisted to police that he was in no way guiding the boy’s hand as he wrote about his father ‘placing his penis in union with his anus’ and committing other forms of sexual assault.
The boy also said that his mother, Jose’s wife, was unaware of the abuse, and that he had last been abused the previous day according to Fumero, prompting police to arrest his father and put him behind bars in a Miami prison.
Tough break: Jose Cordero (left in mugshot) was arrested in October after police were informed that he has been accused of raping his autistic son, who is just seven, with a teacher (Saul Fumero on right) alerting authorities
‘Through the “hand over hand” technique facilitated by Fumero, the victim disclosed penile/ anal penetration by his father as well as union of the victim’s penis with the defendant’s mouth,’ states the No Action Memo obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘During the victim’s medical examination, bruises consistent with his disclosure were observed on the victim’s back. The victim wrote that his father grabs him “to poke me with his penis.” The victim wrote that the defendant touches “my anus with his penis.”‘
It went on to state: ‘When asked about his mother, the victim stated he felt safe with his mother and “she cares for me and my sister, she cares about me too.” The victim’s mother nearly fainted when discussing the allegations with the detectives and appeared completely unaware of any abuse.’
Four days later police were again called to the school after it was reported that the same minor child was again detailing abuse that was occurring at his home.
This time, Fumero claimed that the boy had said his mother had tried to kill him and he was not safe.
‘I am playing with my life and it’s not a fun game. I should have told you how evil she is she has schizophrenia and doesn’t take her medicine like she’s supposed to,’ said the minor at one point.
He said later that his sister was forced to perform oral sex on him at times when their parents demanded it and had ‘been conditioned to be a sex slave’ for their father.
‘This is all a very ugly and disturbing horror story but all true,’ said the boy, with all of those comments being made with the aid of Fumero using ‘hand over hand.’
Cordero was ‘very concerned’ about his son from the first time he was questioned, and wanted to be sure the boy was safe.
The boy’s sister, 25, expressed the same sentiments even after she was accused of assaulting the minor child.
Fumero told police after the second confession that he had no experience with ‘hand over hand,’ and that information combined with some other discrepancies resulted in the defense making the decision to waive their right to an adversarial preliminary hearing and a speedy trial if Cordero who could transfer out of the prison and go on house arrest.
Confession: That confession came from the boy himself using ‘hand over hand’ with the aid of teacher Saul Fumero, who had never practiced the method in the past (James Bright Elementary where the boy attends school above)
That was granted on November 14, but he could not leave the detention facility until December 4 due to the fact that he had no residence and was unable to move home for legal and personal reasons.
Cordero was banned from being near his son and had not spoken to his wife since October, with Ruby Campbell-Cordero filing for divorce in January.
Her lawyer told DailyMail.com on Friday that she is still going through with that divorce.
The minor child has not written with any of his new therapists or teachers according to the No Action Memo, and the case was finally tossed out for good after forensics in the case showed no DNA had been recovered fro the victim which matched Cordero.
‘Though there may have been probable cause for an arrest, the State of Florida has a much higher burden to proof then a mere probable cause. Prosecutorial ethics dictate that if a case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, then the State in good faith cannot proceed,’ writes Assistant State Attorney Laura Cespedes.
‘Due to significant inconsistencies within the victim’s disclosures coupled with the controversial means by which the disclosure was obtained, and a lack of corroborating witnesses, the State would be unable to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt at this time.’