In 1983, 10-year-old Robert Bienvenue and 8-year-old Richard told police that they had been sexually abused by their mother, Mary Ann Elizondo, and stepfather, Joe Elizondo. At the time, the boys were in the custody of their father and only spent weekends with their mother. Both Mary Ann and Joe were arrested and charged with sexual abuse, and in 1984, Joe was sentenced to life in prison, while Mary Ann was sentenced to 35 years in prison. After Mary Ann was released on parole in 1991, she was jailed for another six months for refusing to admit to sexually abusing her sons. All the while, Robert’s father told him that Mary Ann simply abandoned him. But on his 17th birthday, Robert discovered a letter from his mother and learned for the first time that she and Joe were in prison, prompting him to reveal to the authorities that his father forced him to falsely accuse his mother of sexual abuse in retaliation for Mary Ann marrying Joe. A court granted Joe a new trial, and in 1997, prosecutors dismissed the case. In 2005, an appeals court vacated Mary Ann’s conviction.
