SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 63-year-old man pleaded guilty today to molesting three girls in and around Anaheim and was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison.
Robert Clayton Foster pleaded guilty to three felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor. One count of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor was dismissed, along with a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims, as part of the plea deal.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Cassidy ordered Foster to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender. He was given credit for 910 days in custody.
Foster molested one girl in 2003, another victim in January 1992 and a third girl in May 1999, according to court records.
In a victim impact statement read aloud in court, one of the victims said she has been “shaped'' by many people in her life, “but none have affected me in the way Robert Foster has, as I was 5 years old when he began molesting me.''
She said Foster would take her and her brother on weekend trips to amusement parks and arcades, including Adventure City, Legoland and Nickel Nickel.
“I knew something wasn't right, but I was too young to understand what was happening,'' she said. “When those weekends came around, I was so excited because I got to go to places my parents couldn't afford.''
She said she is tormented by thoughts of why she let it happen, but as she grew older, she understood how the weekend jaunts were “typical grooming'' of victims.
The victim said she is plagued with “constant nightmares, mental breakdowns'' and “paranoia.''
“I cry for those lost years of childhood,'' she said. “Robert Foster stripped me of my childhood, my innocence, my trust... and left me with trauma I will live with for the rest of my life.''
A second victim said in another statement read aloud in court that Foster “has greatly impacted my life... I did not have a normal childhood because of his actions. It haunts me every day.''
She added, “I can't even take my kids out to the park or a public place without being suspicious... I'll never get back what he took from me.''
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