Judge orders GPS bracelet for ex-Aurora coach
A former Aurora gymnastics coach accused of fondling students under his tutelage will have to wear a GPS ankle bracelet as he awaits a new trial.
A DuPage County judge Friday ordered Michael P. Cardamone to wear the monitoring device and keep a daily log of his whereabouts.
Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell did not further restrict Cardamone from regular daily activities, such as taking his two sons, ages 5 and 4, to the park or attending their sporting or school events. Cardamone may participate in activities in which other kids may be present as long as another adult is with him to supervise.
Cardamone, 32, has been free on bond since January when his initial conviction was overturned. But in April, prosecutors accused him of violating that bond while taking his sons to places such as his family gymnastics facility, Chuck E. Cheese's and to see the Easter Bunny.
His attorney, Joseph Laraia, fought the GPS bracelet requirement, but Fawell quickly reminded him of the alternative.
"The easiest alternative is to revoke bond," the judge said. "I'm trying to not do that."
Cardamone pleaded not guilty to child sexual assault allegations and a newer perjury charge. He is living with family in Oswego and is barred from having any contact with his accusers, all of whom live in the Aurora and Naperville area.
"The state's desire to keep me a prisoner for crimes I never committed is hard," Cardamone said after the court hearing. However, I will continue to do what's needed to prove my innocence."
Prosecutors unsuccessfully sought to either revoke Cardamone's bond, and place him in jail while awaiting trial, or to raise it from $550,000 to $2 million.
"We do believe the defendant is a threat to the community," prosecutor Alex McGimpsey said.
Cardamone is back in court July 15.
He has fought the allegations since his first arrest in late 2002. A DuPage County jury convicted him in 2005 of inappropriately touching seven girls, then ages 7 to 14, at his family's Aurora gymnastics facility. He was acquitted of charges involving seven other former students, and more serious predatory offenses.
In March 2008, an appeals court overturned Cardamone's conviction and ordered a new trial. The court found the trial judge, who was not Fawell, allowed too much testimony of uncharged allegations. Cardamone was serving a 20-year prison term before winning the new trial. The high court, though, upheld his harassment conviction relating to a 911 call on July 7, 2004, in which he reported a possible drunken driver who turned out to be one of his accuser's mothers.
Earlier this year, prosecutors charged him with perjury after alleging he lied while testifying about the 911 call.