A Savage man was convicted yesterday of molesting three children -- two girls and a boy ages 7 to 9 -- at an apartment complex in Savage.

But a Howard County jury also found Gerardo Cardenas, 28, not guilty of sexually assaulting a fourth child, a 5-year-old girl.

In all, jurors, who deliberated for nine hours, returned guilty verdicts for 28 of the 33 charges in the case, which involves sexual abuse of the children, one set of siblings and an 8-year-old girl, over nearly two years.

Cardenas, a slight man with multiple tattoos including a crown of thorns on his forehead, a naked woman on his arm and a teardrop near his left eye, stared straight ahead as his Spanish interpreter explained the jury verdict.

The mothers of the children sobbed quietly.

"I can't believe this is over," the mother of the 8-year-old girl and the 5-year-old girl, said later. "This was a nightmare."

Defense attorney Robert Cole Jr. said yesterday the fact that the jury found Cardenas not guilty on five charges -- including all four involving the 5-year-old -- showed they were paying close attention.

Jurors said later that testimony about the youngest girl's accusations, including her statements, left them with reasonable doubt.

"It's apparent they were careful going through each and every count," Cole said.

Cardenas could receive to a potential prison sentence of more than 100 years. The case, which was heard by Howard County Circuit Judge James B. Dudley, was not immediately set for sentencing.

But by late afternoon, the case had sparked a new investigation after the lead detective, Detective 1st Class Matthew B. Tanis, learned that one of the mothers had received telephone death threats after the verdict was announced, police said.

Police are working to make sure the woman and her children are protected, said Pfc. Lisa Myers, a police spokeswoman.

The weeklong trial, which included videotape of the children's early interviews with a social worker, also featured live testimony from all four children.

Cardenas would occasionally watch the children when the mother of one set of siblings, who also babysat the other set of siblings, was napping or busy doing housework.

He was arrested after the 8-year-old girl told the boy, now 9, that Cardenas was molesting her last summer. The boy told his mother, sparking a chain of events that led to an investigation, according to testimony.

The 8-year-old "was the one who broke the silence here," prosecutor Amy Hott Somerville told jurors during opening statements. "[She] was the one who told."

The Sun is not naming either mother or the children to protect their identities.

Cardenas, who testified that he first came to the United States 15 years ago from Mexico, said that the children would occasionally play, using markers to color his back, chest and arm, but denied that he ever inappropriately touched the children.

The children said some of the molestation occurred while they were drawing on him, according to testimony.

Asked whether he had ever placed his hands on the children's "privates," Cardenas said "not once."