New York ( CNN ) -- A team of prosecutors and a panel of law enforcement , legal and social science experts are being assembled to reinvestigate the case of a man convicted in 1988 of sexually abusing children , according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Nassau County District Attorney 's office . `` A prosecutor 's job is not to obtain convictions , but to obtain justice . I can not predict whether or not our investigation will corroborate the criminal case brought against Mr. [ Jesse ] Friedman more than two decades ago . What I can guarantee is that my investigation will be thorough andit will be fair , '' Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement . Nassau County is on Long Island . The announcement to reopen the case comes in response to a federal appeals court decision that suggested prosecutors had an `` ethical obligation '' to reopen the 1988 child molestation case of Friedman . He was the focus of a 2003 Oscar-nominated documentary , `` Capturing the Friedmans . '' Friedman shared his reaction with CNN Tuesday night in an e-mail : `` I am concerned , given my history with the Nassau County prosecutor 's office , of their ability to conduct a fair review of their colleagues . However , taking Kathleen Rice at her word , I am optimistic and hopeful for the first time in more years then I care to admit . '' The 31-page decision , released Monday , questioned `` the process by which the petitioner 's conviction was obtained '' and suggested that because of the `` vast moral panic '' about child sexual abuse that was prevalent in the late 1980s and early '90s might have led police officials to cut corners in their investigation . In unusually strong language , the 2nd Circuit Court decision stated that `` ... the police , prosecutors and the judge did everything they could to coerce a guilty plea and avoid a trial '' and said there was a `` reasonable likelihood '' Friedman was `` wrongfully convicted '' of sexually abusing children . Friedman , 41 , served 13 years in prison and another five on parole . He said he was still digesting the court 's decision on Tuesday . `` If the charges went away , that would be wonderful , '' he said . Friedman said he has tried for 20 years to revoke his guilty plea , saying that at the time there was `` no other viable option , the system was in place . '' He said he was offered a guaranteed six- to 18-year sentence in exchange for not pursuing a trial and feared the judge would give him 1,000 years if he did n't plead guilty . `` If I went to trial , I was doomed , '' he said . The court decision stated that although by law the court could not overturn Friedman'sconviction as it was filed too late , it suggested that the Nassau County prosecutor 's office reinvestigate the case . The decision cited New York law , which states that it was a prosecutor 's duty to `` take reasonable remedial measures when it appears likely that an innocent person was wrongly convicted . '' Friedman was 19 when he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing over a dozen children with his father , Arnold Friedman . His father committed suicide in 1995 in prison . Friedman and his father held computer classes in the basement of their suburban home in Great Neck , New York , where the attacks allegedly took place . In 2003 , while watching the documentary `` Capturing the Friedmans , '' he found out that many of the children who accused Friedman of sexually abusing them had been put through hypnotic therapy sessions to recall the attacks . Friedman 's attorney , Ronald Kuby , said that it was an opportunity for the prosecutor 's office to `` cure an injustice '' and hoped it would end with a decision that Friedman was wrongfully convicted . Friedman , who was paroled in 2001 , said he was n't sure how much it would really change his day-to-day life at this point . `` I do n't get those years back , but it would be nice to have my innocence declared , I am not a child molester . '' He said he has an online book business selling popular fiction , which he runs from his home on the U.S. East Coast , where he lives with his wife . `` My focus is on tomorrow , '' he said .
NEW : ` ` I am optimistic and hopeful for the first time '' in years , Jesse Friedman says . In 2012 , Friedman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing minors . Team of New York prosecutors to work with panel of judges . 2nd Circuit Judge : Officials ` ` did everything they could to secure a guilty plea ''