LIVING HELL:Robert L. Viggiano (left) was mistaken for Robert S. Viggiano (right), who has been accused of the attempted rape of a child. (
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Robert L. Viggiano, 47, is a happily married man with two kids and a successful plumbing business in Cold Spring, a quaint village of 2,000 in upstate Putnam County.
Robert S. Viggiano, 47, is a married father of two, who owns a contracting business in Cold Spring — and was busted this week on a lurid attempted-rape charge of trying to arrange sex with a 10-year-old girl.
The unfortunate coincidence has turned Robert L.’s life into a living hell.
“It’s been devastating,” Robert L. told The Post. “There were reporters knocking on our neighbors’ doors, asking if they knew that I had been soliciting sex from 10-year-old girls.
“When you hear it on the radio, everyone thinks it is me. My cousins called my aunts, who called my sisters. It’s been absolute hell.”
Yonkers cops said the real suspect, from Fishkill in Dutchess County, showed up Tuesday with candy and $400 to meet with what he thought was a mom willing to sell her daughter for sex.
But “Mom” turned out to be an undercover Yonkers cop posing as a depraved junkie willing to sell her little girl to a pervert, and Robert S. was busted.
Robert S., an electrician and the owner of Energy Services, is not related to Robert L. He was held without bail pending a court date Feb. 23.
Robert L., an active volunteer who helps coach his kids’ baseball and basketball teams, says he’s never met the guy.
“And I don’t want to. If I did, I’d ask him, ‘What the hell’s wrong with you? What are you freakin’ thinking?’ ” he said.
Good Robert now has his work cut out for him to repair his unfairly tarnished reputation.
“Some people don’t believe me. My friend says his mother-in-law said, ‘It must be him, they have the same name!’ and on paper, we are the same. Same age, married, two kids. What are the odds?”
The publicity has hurt his business, he added.
“I was on a job, and it comes over the radio, and people just stared at me,” he said. “I says: ‘But it’s not me! That guy’s in jail, and I’m here.’ ”
The horrific nature of the allegations makes everything worse.
“It’s not like he was accused of drunk driving,” good Robert said. “Owning a business, your name is everything and the name of my business is Robert Viggiano Plumbing and Heating.”
After a sleepless night during which he said he had nightmares anyway, Robert L. called as many customers as he could to explain the mix-up.
“I have to write up a letter and get that sent out to my local townspeople and . . . to all my customers, a lot of extra work on my part just to clear my name,” he said.
“When I tell people, everyone just gasps and says, ‘Oh, my God!’ ” he said. “It’s like a death.”