PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Boca Raton mother accused of child sex crimes has been cleared of all charges after prosecutors dismissed the case, citing new evidence that emerged just two weeks before her trial was set to begin.
Walquiria Cassini, 40, was arrested in March 2024 along with her fiancé, Ryan Londono, and her then-20-year-old son Matthew.
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They faced allegations of sexually abusing Cassini's children and livestreaming the abuse for financial gain over five years.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office filed a dismissal document Thursday, stating "new information brought to the state's attention" led to the decision to drop all charges.
"I love my children, I would never, ever hurt them. That did not happen in my home. I am innocent," Cassini said in an exclusive one-on-one interview with WPTV.
Case began during custody dispute
Cassini and her attorneys, Mac Kenzie Sacks and Matthew Goldberger of South Florida Justice, say the sexual abuse allegations stemmed from a bitter custody dispute over Thanksgiving 2023.
Cassini said the father of her two children never returned them after the holiday, despite promising to do so.
Text messages WPTV obtained show Cassini messaging her ex-husband dozens of times on Nov. 26, asking where her children were and threatening to call the police. Her messages went unanswered until the next day, when she finally called 911.
Body camera footage from Nov. 27 showed Marion County deputies responding to her ex's home in Ocala after he reported the allegations. However, hours later, Palm Beach County deputies questioned his claims.
"It's possible that the kids are just lying about this because they want to stay with dad, because dad hasn't witnessed any of this," a Marion County deputy told Palm Beach County deputies in body camera footage. "This was reported to him two days ago, but he didn't call us until tonight. He's more concerned with keeping his kids than he is with the actual allegations."
Detective under investigation
The arresting Palm Beach County sheriff's detective, in the arrest affidavit, claimed to have found sex toys, suspicious payments and an adult website account tied to Cassini's IP address, with files deleted the day after the investigation began.
In court motions, Cassini's attorneys accused the detective of fabricating evidence, saying the website never had accounts linked to Cassini, the sex toys were unrelated, and the FBI found no child exploitation material on any of her 56 devices.
"The sensational probable cause affidavit that was authored was authored to generate headlines, not to reflect facts or evidence," Sacks said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed the detective is now the subject of an internal affairs investigation.
Cassini's attorneys also noted that the children and their father refused medical examinations.
"We really feel like they are victims here of manipulation," said Goldberger.
Moving forward without her children
After reviewing digital evidence, depositions and witnesses, prosecutors said the state "no longer has a good faith basis to proceed."
"Relieved, happy obviously, but I'm also a little sad too, because you think about this day forever," Cassini said, breaking down during the interview. "I kept imagining myself in a courtroom, and then they give me the not guilty, my kids would come. But that's not what happens here."
Cassini still doesn't have custody of her children, who remain with their father. She lost her job, friends and reputation during the two-year ordeal.
"Obviously, I want my story told. I know there's going to be people that probably don't believe it," Cassini said. "That part is tough, but I'm willing to share the story if it helps somebody else in the future and prevents this from happening to anybody."
Cassini is now preparing for a legal battle to reunite with her children. Attempts to reach the children's father for comment were unsuccessful.
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