Horse show veterinarian Dr. Juan Gamboa, DVM, was declared not guilty of charges of child molestation in a trial that ended on July 16.

Gamboa was formally charged in January 2014 for “touching of a child for lustful purposes.” He had allowed a Colombian man and his twin 8-year-old sons stay on his property in a horse trailer owned by the man’s employer. When the man’s employment was terminated, he had to return the horse trailer, and he and his sons subsequently stayed with Gamboa and his family in their house until they found an apartment. After they left Gamboa’s farm, they pressed charges against him.

“My reputation and my life got destroyed; these two years have been the worst nightmare that anybody can go through,” said Gamboa. “I had to prove my innocence, against the Constitution of the United States, where they state very clearly: a person is innocent until proven guilty.”

Gamboa owns Gamboa Veterinary Services in Aiken, S.C., and also competes in the amateur jumper ring. After the charges were made, he was released on $15,000 bond. Though his veterinary license was not revoked, the U.S. Equestrian Federation suspended him, which left him unable to treat horses at USEF-sanctioned shows.

“Ninety percent of my business was at the horse shows for the last 23 years. USEF suspended me and didn’t allow me to go to horse shows, so my income decreased 90 percent. All my loans, my equipment loans, my mortgage—everything. I lost a lot,” he said.

However, the 12-member jury came to a unanimous verdict less than one hour after deliberations began, declaring him not guilty.

“At the very least, we felt there was imaginative discussion between two 8-year-old boys who testified that they liked making stories up together,” said Gamboa’s lawyer, James Huff of Huff Law Firm. “The father, after the accusation was made, stated to the law enforcement investigator two things: one was a quote where he said, ‘This must be a misunderstanding,’ and the second thing he said was, ‘I want this thing dropped.’ And in court, the father testified that his sons had big imaginations.”

Though a filmed interview with the boys was done, the police investigator failed to meet with them or take a statement from them. Given that Gamboa had been out of the state for all but five to seven days of the summer of 2013, when the allegations were said to have occurred, there was no evidence to prove that he had been present.

“When law enforcement and investigators don’t want to know a specific time, what it does is denies Dr. Gamboa the ability to show his calendar and prove that the boys’ story is absolutely not true because he was in another part of the country,” said Huff. “Dr. Gamboa volunteered his calendar the first time he spoke with law enforcement. Nobody wanted to ask any critical questions to these boys to verify or show that the story is correct or incorrect. In essence, 8-year-old twin boys told a story, and we’re supposed to accept it without anybody questioning it, and I don’t know a single parent in this country that would take a story like this and not at least ask questions.”

Gamboa said he will work on re-building his veterinary practice now. 

“I was cleared; there was no question about it. Those charges were totally unfounded,” said Gamboa. “Thank God I have the support of a lot of people here in Aiken. There were about 40 people behind me every day for the four days that the trial was. There was nobody on the accuser’s side.

“I still have a lot of work to do to recover. It was devastating for my family,” continued Gamboa.