The lawyer for the wife of a South Florida man who killed himself amid allegations he molested an underage foreign-exchange student claims she's another victim in a sordid sex scheme.
Marta San Jose is facing several charges including lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, possession of sexual performance by a child and contributing to the delinquency of a child.
But the 21-year-old woman's attorney said she is another victim of her husband, 50-year-old Dale Leary, who was facing the same charges before committing suicide on Tuesday.
"This is a very difficult and sad case," attorney Javier Viera said Friday.
San Jose came from Spain as an exchange student to live with Leary and his then wife Claudia. The Learys hosted foreign exchange students in their Cutler Bay home.
San Jose married Leary shortly after she turned 18, and allegedly participated with him in sexual acts involving minors. But her attorney insists that isn't the case.
"She came as a foreign exchange student at the age of 16, very young, no friends, no family members, she came to a household where I believe she became a victim," Viera said. "This is someone who has, in my opinion, been manipulated, been brainwashed, been shown some sort of affection that she might not have had previously at her home in Europe."
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Police arrested Leary and San Jose last month. Detectives found 11 school records of foreign exchange students in Leary's home, according to a search warrant obtained exclusively by NBC 6. Detectives also found four high-end cameras, six laptops, 10 hard drives, two personal computers, and three memory cards, the warrant said.
Soon after his arrest, Leary and his ex-wife Claudia tried killing themselves in a car. Leary died and his ex-wife ended up in the hospital, where she remained Friday.
San Jose's next court date is scheduled for Thursday, for her arraignment. She's being held in jail on $150,000 bond.
