ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
An Orange County man is being behind bars after deputies say he molested five children at a unlicensed daycare center. They say there could be more victims.
Investigators say Angie's Daycare once operated without a license in a home in East Orange County. According to the arrest report, the husband of a woman who ran it, allegedly molested five children.
Enrique "Rick" Cuebas, 69, was arrested last week and faces charges ranging from lewd and lascivious molestation and lewd and lascivious exhibition to sexual battery of a child under 12.
One of the victims, who is now a teenager, stated she was sexually abused by Cuebas when she was younger. She claims the abuse happened six times a day, in a home that the couple once lived in across the way.
"I don't believe that," says Ida Fraticeli, of the accusations brought against Cuebas. "He's a nice guy. He don't look at nobody."
Fraticeli, a neighbor, says she has trusted Cuebas to watch her own grandchildren, saying, "He used to baby-sit my grand kids, and he was always cleaning the yard and stuff. He was a nice guy."
In the arrest affidavit, Cuebas told a detective that he was innocent and blamed this on a dispute. He later stated, "I am ashamed," as noted in the arrest report. Investigators say there could be more victims and that has many parents, like Gilberto Hernandez, concerned.
"You just can't leave your kids with anybody anymore. It's ridiculous!"
Cuebas is being held without bond at the Orange County Jail. The daycare in question has been closed for some time now by the Florida Department of Children and Families for failure to properly license.
