San Juan Capistrano Man Guilty in Molestation Case

A San Juan Capistrano man, accused of terrorizing a Dana Point neighborhood last year, was convicted Friday of child molestation, indecent exposure and 10 counts of trying to lure more than a dozen children into sexual encounters.

An Orange County Superior Court jury spent 3 1/2 hours deliberating Friday before convicting Thomas Michael Cimino, 31, of all charges. The salesman faces up to eight years in state prison.

“It was an extremely fair trial and obviously jurors paid attention to the evidence,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Claudia Silbar said. “We took these crimes extremely seriously. Parents were literally afraid to let their children play outside.”

Prosecutors alleged that during more than four months last year Cimino approached children in the yards of their homes or as they walked home and lured them into secluded spots, such as a riverbed or the basement of an empty house, by asking for help finding his lost cat.

Cimino’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Nicholas S. Thompson, insisted that Cimino is a victim of mistaken identity, and that he had alibis for two of the crimes.

“Mr. Cimino was a dead ringer for the real guy,” he said. “I’m frankly shocked that the jury convicted him of those crimes when we had irrefutable alibi evidence.”

Cimino’s wife, Rebecca, and his business partner testified in court that he was with them during the most serious offenses, including the incident that led to a felony charge of child molestation, the attorney said. The other charges against Cimino were misdemeanors.

Silbar said she is certain prosecutors have the right man, both because victims were able to identify him and because he has a history of similar conduct. Silbar pointed out that 18 of 20 children that testified identified Cimino as the man who approached them.

Among them were three children from Los Angeles, where he is facing three charges of indecent exposure or masturbating in front of children. Cimino also has a prior 1990 conviction for lewd conduct in public, Silbar said.

Cimino’s child molestation conviction stems from one instance in which he grabbed an 8-year-old girl’s hand and thrust it down his pants before she managed to flee, Silbar said. In another, he exposed himself to a girl near a basketball court, she said. Other children ran away when approached.

As Cimino was being sentenced, his mother, sister and wife sat in the front two rows of the courtroom along with about a dozen other relatives and friends, weeping and sometimes hurling insults at the prosecutor and an investigator. No victims or their families were in the courtroom Friday.

Cimino briefly doubled over a table when a bailiff clamped on handcuffs, then continually looked back toward his distraught family.

Several times during the hearing, Rebecca Cimino leaned forward, called prosecutor Silbar a liar and was quieted by bailiffs. She also told Silbar, as she left the courtroom: “I hope you get a big promotion for this.”

Silbar responded: “It’s too bad people can’t face facts. That’s what these people need to do.”

Cimino is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on June 12. His sister, Christine Cimino of Rhode Island, said Cimino plans to appeal.