MERIDIAN, Miss.–Nearly 100 years in prison is what ex-Clarksdale softball coach Rick Roberson is facing after he was convicted of molesting former players from 2010 to 2010. A jury got the case Thursday morning in Lauderdale County circuit court, and had a verdict by 3 p.m.
Roberson was found guilty of two counts of exploitation of a child and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes, in other words, child molestation.
His sentencing was set for Feb. 21. He could get 40 years each on the exploitation charges and 15 years on the touching charge. Essentially, depending on what the judge says, Roberson, who is 61, could be very old when gets out of prison, or could die there.
District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell credited the testimony of the women who came forward. One of those signed an affidavit saying Roberson had sexual intercourse with her in 1984 and got her pregnant, according to the Meridian Star.
Bilbo said that established a pattern.
The students who Roberson was convicted of molesting were in ninth and tenth grades when the incidents happened.
Roberson was also found not guilty on three counts.
