Accused child molester convicted of 16 felony offenses

A Cameron Park man accused of molesting five children has been found guilty of 16 felony offenses.

Robert Lee Edmonds was convicted by an El Dorado County jury on Wednesday following a three-week trial. The offenses included sex crimes against five children younger than 14 years old, providing controlled substances to a minor, possession of child pornography and criminal threats, according to an El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office news release.

The crimes were committed over a two-year period, beginning in 2014 and ending when Edmonds was arrested by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office in 2016. Edmonds, who was 23 at the time of his arrest, befriended his intended victims, then used that relationship to take advantage of them, the news release said.

The Sheriff’s Office began its investigation in April 2016 after receiving reports of inappropriate relationships between Edmonds and underage girls. Edmonds was arrested May 5, 2016, and bailed out of jail the same day. The investigation continued, and Edmonds was arrested a month later on a new felony child molestation warrant after additional alleged victims were identified, the Sheriff’s Office reported at the time.

Edmonds is to be sentenced Jan. 22. He faces a maximum sentence of 106 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Warren Stracener presided over the trial.

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Accused child molester convicted of 16 felony offenses."