U.S. Man Reportedly to Be Freed by Mexico

An Orange County man imprisoned for 6 1/2 years after being wrongly accused of molesting children at a Mexican orphanage will be released from an Ensenada prison next week, his attorney predicted Friday.

At the same time, a state judge in Mexico who conducted an independent investigation of the orphanage said she found evidence of sexual abuse, including allegations that American visitors took children to empty rooms to molest them.

Although absolved of the abuse charges, David Cathcart of Laguna Niguel has remained jailed on drug possession allegations, which he and his attorney say are false.

Cathcart, 59, was convicted of molesting four young boys at a Mexican orphanage that was supported by his church. He was cleared by state Judge Marta Flores Trejo last week when the four victims recanted their testimony.

However, as his release was imminent, two prison guards accused Cathcart of having heroin in his cell in 1998, and federal drug charges were filed.

On Friday, Cathcart’s attorney, William Bollard, said a federal judge hearing the charge has signaled that he will absolve Cathcart of the drug charges next week and order him released.

“The news has been very encouraging. There were some legal procedures we had to attend to in the last two weeks. But I’m confident that he will walk out a free man next week,” Bollard said.

Bollard was in Ensenada to meet with Cathcart and Flores.

“The last week has been filled with high anxiety. I’m looking forward to walking out of here soon,” said Cathcart.

Cathcart said that “not much has changed since the judge found me innocent. I’m still locked up for something I didn’t do.”

Flores said Friday that she has faced criticism from the local press and authorities for clearing Cathcart of molestation charges.

Flores said she also was criticized for announcing the findings of her independent investigation of the Puerta de Fe orphanage.

“There are adults from the U.S. who live there at the orphanage who have nothing to do with the orphanage. Nobody, including the director, could tell me why they were there,” the judge said.

Flores said the four victims who recanted their allegations against Cathcart told her that American men would take children into empty rooms and have sex with them.

“The boys also told me that the older children at the orphanage would have sex with the young ones. They said that [director] Gabriel Diego Garcia was aware of this but made no attempt to stop it,” Flores said.

In an interview last week, Garcia strongly denied that children at the orphanage were sexually abused. Garcia could not be reached for comment Friday.