GOSHEN – Leticia Bravo, the 40-year-old Newburgh woman who was seven-year-old Peter Cuacuas’ caregiver when he starved to death in February 2021, was sentenced to 15 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision.
An autopsy conducted by the Orange County Medical Examiner concluded that Peter, who weighed just 37 pounds, had died of malnutrition.
It was alleged that Bravo kept Peter hidden in a bedroom behind a locked door.
Since January of 2021, Peter never logged on for virtual schooling, despite numerous conversations between Bravo and Peter’s teachers and other school representatives.
On February 2, 2022, Arturo Cuacuas, 54, of Newburgh, the child’s father, pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide. Arturo did not live with Bravo during the time period relevant to the charges and he admitted that in the months prior to Peter’s death, he would see Peter with Bravo once a week and noted his deteriorating condition and that he failed to take appropriate steps to help him.
He will be sentenced to one and one-third to four years in state prison, the maximum legally permissible for the crime.
