Judge to man convicted of child sex abuse in Cambodia: 'You're treating me like I'm an idiot'

Dr. James D'Agostino leaves County Court in December after a sex offender rating hearing. (Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com)

 

January 28, 2014 at 11:40 AM, updated January 28, 2014 at 11:48 AM

 

Dr. James D'Agostino (left) is escorted by court security personnel at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November 2011. The court sentenced him to four years in prison. Heng Sinith / The Associated Press, 2011

Syracuse, NY -- Tempers flared today as a judge held a third meeting to figure out whether a former Syracuse emergency room doctor convicted of child sex abuse in Cambodia should be a registered sex offender here.
State Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti has talked about the complexity of the case, given there's no guarantee that James D'Agostino was given due process overseas. The conviction, the judge said, appeared not based on a trial, but on police statements.
D'Agostino, who had been mostly silent until today, erupted in court over what he felt was a wrongful conviction based on those police reports.

He said that a woman who claimed that he touched a boy in a swimming pool later changed her story to say she "assumed" he had touched the boy. D'Agostino was convicted of paying the 15-year-old victim for sexual favors. He spent several years in prison.
"It's a regurgitation of lies and misinformation," D'Agostino said today in court. The pediatric ER doctor left Upstate University Hospital to volunteer in Cambodia.
D'Agostino continued that witnesses recanted their testimony at trial, that the state health department had cast serious doubt on the conviction and that the process was "ridiculous."
The judge responded: "You're treating me like I'm an idiot."
"Explain to me how I'm treating you like an idiot," D'Agostino fired back.
Brunetti said D'Agostino could request a new judge if he felt the judge was "complicit in the conspiracy to crucify" him.
When D'Agostino did not make a request, Brunetti added: "I don't want to hear anything out of your mouth except under oath, if and when we have a hearing."
D'Agostino responded in agreement.
The judge has not said if he believes the police reports. The question, in his mind, is whether or not an overseas conviction based on police reports -- not a trial -- can qualify D'Agostino to be a New York State sex offender.
As D'Agostino mentioned, the conviction was seriously questioned by the state health department. A translated Cambodian court transcript showed that D'Agostino was convicted after his accusers recanted their allegations against him and the prosecution found insufficient evidence to prove the charges.
The heath department said that the transcript shows D'Agostino's alleged victims testified they were coerced by police and teachers to provide false testimony about the doctor. It also noted that prosecutors sought to withdraw the charges because of insufficient evidence.
D'Agostino's lawyer, Stuart LaRose, has said that a tribunal ruled him guilty.
Brunetti adjourned the case until Feb. 18 while he continued to do more research.
Under a state recommendation, D'Agostino would be a Level 2 sex offender, meaning he was a moderate risk of re-offending. But prosecutors have asked for a Level 3 designation, the highest level.

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