FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A former swim instructor was found guilty Thursday of molesting three young girls in Deerfield Beach.
Francisco De Aragon was found guilty on all counts against him, which includes one count of sexual battery on a child, three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of battery.
The sexual battery on a child charge comes with a mandatory life sentence.
Upon hearing the verdict, De Aragon cried and later mouthed, "I love you" to his wife, who was in the courtroom.
"There's no motive for these little girls. They didn't know him. They didn't hold a grudge," prosecutor Stacey Honowitiz said. "He was the swim teacher and there was really no reason, other than it really (happened), that they came back and told that this guy touched them in their genitals. We couldn't be happier."
De Aragon made the decision Wednesday afternoon to testify in his defense.
He was accused of molesting three 6-year-old girls several years ago at the Deerfield Beach Aquatic Center.
Each girl testified against him this week.
"He was touching my bathing suit and then he went under … his hand, and then he touched my private," one girl said.
De Aragon firmly denied the accusations against him.
"So why are you here?" his attorney asked him.
"I have no idea. This to me -- I can't explain it," De Aragon said.
De Aragon turned down a plea deal Monday that would have sentenced him to 25 years in prison.