Ten years ago he was raping a 10-year-old girl. He raped her often. What will this sentence be. He is on our Watch List. Fernando Atonio Asturizaga (06/13/1966) will be sentenced on August 17, 2012. In addition to being a “person of interest” in the survivor’s mother’s death, he was convicted 02/17/2012 of numerous rapes and sexual offences
Count #1 – Guilty (Rape Second Degree)
Count #2 – Guilty (Rape Second Degree)
Count #3 – Guilty (Rape Second Degree)
Count #4 – Guilty (Rape Second Degree)
Count #5 – Guilty – (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #6 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #7 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #8 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #9 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #10 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #11 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #12 – Guilty (Sex Offense Second Degree)
Count #13 – Guilty (Sex Offense Third Degree)
Count #14 – Guilty (Sex Offense Third Degree)
Count #15 – Guilty (Sex Offense Third Degree)
Count #16 – Guilty (Sex Offense Third Degree)
Count #17 – Guilty (Child Abuse)
Count #18 – Guilty (Child Abuse)
Background (See Our Facebook Page For More)
Maryland, Feb 22, 2012 – A former Prince George’s County private school teacher was found guilty Friday on all counts of having had a sexual relationship with a former student in Silver Spring more than 10 years ago.
The jury returned the verdict following closing arguments in a four-day trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court finding Fernando A. Asturizaga, 45, guilty of four counts each of second-degree rape and third-degree sex offense, as well as eight counts of second-degree sex offense and two counts of child abuse.
Asturizaga, who met the victim when she was a 10-year-old student of his at the Friends Community School in College Park in 1999, maintained his innocence throughout the trial. Montgomery County Assistant Public Defender Theresa Chernosky said she had not spoken with Asturizaga following the verdict, but an appeal likely will be made.
“I’m sure that we’ll appeal, but the sentencing date isn’t for a while so we can’t do anything [at this point],” she said.
Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Fenton declined to comment following the verdict.
County police arrested Asturizaga on Oct. 28, 2010, shortly after the victim came forward earlier that month. After teaching the victim and her brother at Friends Community School, Asturizaga began babysitting the two as their parents went through a divorce, according to testimony during the trial.
Asturizaga maintained a strong friendship with the victim’s father, who The Gazette will not name to protect the identity of the victim.
“We were in contact up until the time [my daughter] told me he had been abusing her,” the father told attorneys during testimony Thursday. “Up until that time I would consider us close friends.”
Asturizaga also has been identified as a suspect in the ongoing homicide investigation of the victim’s mother, who was reported missing on May 24, 2000.
Prosecutors were barred from presenting evidence regarding the killing at trial, and neither Fenton nor Chernosky would comment on whether or not the evidence would be heard at Asturizaga’s sentencing.
jarias@gazette.net
Background:
Friday, Feb 17, 2012
There was a startling development Thursday in the high-profile cold case murder of a Washington Post copy editor. Sources tell News4 that investigators have identified a person of interest in the death of Alison Thresher. The 45-year-old disappeared from her Bethesda apartment in the 4500 block of Sangamore Lane in May 2000. A day later, her car was found about a mile away near the C & O Canal trail where Thresher liked to take walks. For almost 12 years, Thresher’s disappearance has been a mystery. Recently, during a court hearing in an unrelated case, prosecutors referenced Fernando Asturizaga as a person of interest in Thresher’s murder. Law enforcement sources confirmed that status to News4. Alison Thresher’s body has never been found.
Background:
October 28, 2010; 1:01 PM ET
Man charged in decade-old sex case
A 44-year-old Vermont man, previously found not guilty of sex offenses when he lived in Maryland, was arrested Wednesday on charges of abusing a young girl from 1999 to 2001 in Montgomery County, according to police and court records.
Fernando Antonio Asturizaga, who lives in Montpelier, was being held in the Montgomery jail on $100,000 bond. He is expected to appear in court Thursday afternoon.
Montgomery police say that, about a decade ago, Asturizaga met the 10-year-old girl while he taught her at a private school in Prince George’s County. He began to baby-sit the girl at her home in Silver Spring and a second location in Bethesda, and did so from 1999 to 2001, police said.
“It was during these times that the sex abuse occurred,” police said.
Montgomery detectives charged him with two counts of second-degree rape, six counts of second-degree sex offense, and two counts of child abuse by a lawful custodian.
In 2003, Asturizaga was charged with sex offense counts in Prince George’s County, according to online court records. A jury found him not guilty, according to online court records. His attorney in that case, Robert Bonsib, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
Police said they want to hear from anyone who may know more about Asturizaga’s activities. They said callers may contact Detective Katie Leggett at 240-773-5426. Callers may remain anonymous.
RINJ dot Org
UPDATE
Update August 20, 2012 after August 17 Sentencing
In 2003 Fernando Asturizaga beat charges of sexual assault and child abuse in Circuit Court for Prince George’s County.
From 1999, however, he had repeatedly raped another 11-year old victim for at least 2 years.
He also is suspected of murdering the mother of the victim he was convicted of raping in February 2012.
The mother had been trying to contact Montgomery County Police.
RINJ has been watching this case closely.
Asturizaga got a 128 year prison sentence on Friday, August 17, 2012.
We are suggesting this won’t be the last you will hear of this despicable person.
We are purposefully no longer naming the victims in this matter.
