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Orange County resident Arturo Cuacuas, age 54, of Newburgh, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 2, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler.
An Orange County grand jury previously charged the boy's primary caregiver, Leticia Bravo, age 39, of Newburgh, with murder in the death of Peter Cacuas who prosecutors allege was kept secreted inside Bravo's City of Newburgh apartment, while he starved to death.
Arturo Cuacuas did not live with Bravo during the time period relevant to the charges, the DA's Office said.
At the time that Arturo Cuacuas pleaded guilty, he admitted that in the months prior to Peter’s death, he would see Peter with Bravo once a week and noted his deteriorating condition, and failed to take appropriate steps to help him, officials said.
As part of a plea agreement, Arturo Cuacuas will be sentenced to one and one-third to four years in state prison, the maximum legally permissible, the DA's Office said.
He also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, including testifying against Bravo.
On Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, shortly after 8 a.m., Bravo brought Peter Cuacuas’ lifeless body to St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh, the DA's Office said.
He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
An investigation conducted by the City of Newburgh Police Department, aided by the New York State and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, revealed that during 2020 Bravo became the primary caretaker of Peter Cuaucas.
Bravo was the girlfriend of Peter Cuacuas’ father, Arturo Cuacuas. It is believed the boy would stay with Bravo at her apartment on William Street in Newburgh every day but Saturday, when Bravo and Peter would stay with his father at Arturo Caucuas’ apartment.
An autopsy conducted by the Orange County Medical Examiner concluded that Peter, who weighed just 37 pounds, had died as a result of malnutrition.
It is alleged that Bravo kept Peter locked and secreted in a bedroom behind a door that locked from the outside, the DA's Office said.
Arturo Cuacuas will not be sentenced until after criminal proceedings against Bravo are concluded.
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