A photo of a Pioneer Valley High School teacher was a point of contention during closing arguments Friday in the trial of Michael Cardoza, who is charged with molesting a 16-year-old boy who was his student.

Deputy District Attorney Stephen Foley said the photo depicted Cardoza, wearing a shirt but no pants, on his bed receiving oral sex from the alleged victim. Foley said the defendant took the photo himself.

Cardoza's attorney, Michael Scott, said the limb visible in the picture was Cardoza's arm, and not his bare leg. He said the photo was taken by the alleged victim.

The attorneys gave their closing arguments Friday, and the jury was set to return to Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria Monday morning, at which time more jury instructions will presumably be given by Judge Edward Bullard before jurors begin deliberations.

Cardoza is facing charges of oral copulation with a minor both with and without force or duress, documenting a sex act of a minor, molesting or annoying a child, and development or duplication of an image of a child engaged in a sexual conduct.

The defendant, 59, who previously taught at Santa Maria High School and in Visalia and is on unpaid leave from the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, is accused of molesting the teen two years ago when the boy was in his algebra class at Pioneer Valley.

The Orcutt resident took the stand in his own defense during his trial, and denied having sex with the teen. He admitted that he took sexually explicit photos of the student, but said that he believed the boy was 18 at the time.

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The defendant said the boy, who has been identified only as “John Doe” in court, asked him to take the photos so they could be sent to the alleged victim's boyfriend.

Doe was actually 16 at the time the pictures were taken two years ago at Cardoza's house, according to testimony in the trial.

The boy also took the stand earlier in the trial, and said Cardoza masturbated as he took sexually explicit photos of him, and that he gave Cardoza oral sex.

The alleged victim said he felt extremely afraid and was too intimidated to leave the defendant's house.

The prosecution alleged that Cardoza made similar advances before on other boys and young men.

Foley said during his closing argument that Cardoza would present himself as a teacher, religious person or a mentor to troubled boys in order to get what he wanted.

“How do we know that what John Doe told us is true?” he asked.

Doe, he said, had no ax to grind with Cardoza.

“The defendant was great to John Doe,” Foley said.

The crime was reported right away, Foley said, and the alleged victim had no time to invent a story. Before investigators went to Cardoza's house, he said, Doe correctly told them that Cardoza took photos of him and had pornography on his computer.

“So, we know the things that he said are true,” Foley said.

During his closing argument, Scott said, “John Doe's credibility is the center of the prosecution's case.” If jurors did not believe the alleged victim, they must find Cardoza not guilty, he said.

Scott said Doe made a number of inconsistent statements. Among them, Scott said, the alleged victim wrote in his diary that Cardoza raped him but said that oral copulation occurred.

Doe lied about having sex with his father's business partner, and lied about someone putting a knife to his throat, Scott said.

“The people who know him say he's a liar,” the attorney said.

“He's a sophomore, so what?” Scott said of the alleged victim's grade in school at the time the photos were taken. With the boy bouncing from state to state, was there any reason for Cardoza not to believe Doe was 18?, Scott asked.

He said that Cardoza being a gay man who likes to take pictures of 18-year-old males is not a crime.

If an older man liked to take photos of 18-year-old women, some would applaud that, Scott said.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com.

June 21, 2008