Sep 26, 2008 9:26 pm US/Eastern
Father Says He Doesn't Know Where Lynn Boy Is
LYNN (WBZ) ―
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Ernesto Gonzalez being led out of court on Friday.
WBZ
Five-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez of Lynn has been missing for six weeks and the one person who may know where he is isn't talking -- his father.
Ernesto Gonzalez was back in court on Friday, arguing he should be able to get out of jail even, if he isn't helping police find Giovanni.
As he was led out of the courthouse and put in a police van, WBZ's Karen Anderson asked where his little boy was.
"Don't know where Giovanni is at," Gonzalez said.
After that, Gonzalez wouldn't say anymore.
In court, Gonzalez showed no emotion. Prosecutors told the judge he was the last person to see his son Giovanni.
After Giovanni's mother dropped him off for a weekend custody visit in Lynn, the father and son were seen together at a therapist appointment. "And there was an independent professional saying 'We saw his son on Saturday.' For all of Sunday, no one can account for the whereabouts of this child," the prosecutor said.
Police searches in neighborhoods and nearby woods also turned up nothing. "There was a time when the defendant was living out in the woods, and they searched those areas as well," the prosecutor said in court.
Giovanni's attorney, Lawrence McGuire, says prosecutors are grasping at straws, and claims there is no reason to hold Gonzalez on high bail for a child endangerment charge. "He has minded his own business and that's all the Commonwealth has, some suspicion."
The judge denied the defense's request for lower bail, explaining that Gonzalez leads the lifestyle of a loaner, has few roots in the community, and given the circumstances is a flight risk. He remains behind bars on $500,000 bail.
Prosecutors say police also have not been able to find Giovanni's clothes or his backpack. The judge told prosecutors that this could be a hard case to prove.
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