Frontline

Did Daddy Do It? (2002x11)

Air date: Apr 25, 2002

In 1984, Cuban immigrant Frank Fuster was living the American dream. He had a new house in the suburbs, a successful landscaping business, and a new wife who was helping him raise his five-year-old son. Then, Fuster's world fell apart, as he and his wife found themselves charged with sexually abusing numerous children at their Miami day care service. His case was groundbreaking because it helped create the methods by which prosecutors would pursue alleged molesters in other well-known cases around the country. The prosecutor in the case, Janet Reno, became famous and would later serve as the nation's Attorney General. In the l980s, hysteria was in the air and the Fuster case had the usual media frenzy that branded him a monster. Then, when Fuster's wife and son testified against him, he was easily convicted and sentenced to 165 years in prison. Case closed. But was Fuster really guilty of those horrific acts? Now, nearly 20 years later, a FRONTLINE investigation finds new evidence that calls into question the ironclad case against Frank Fuster.