Delaware Man Sentenced to Decade in Prison For Sexually Abusing 13-Year-Old D.C. Girl

            WASHINGTON – Robert Sanders III, 22, of Dover, Delaware, was sentenced today to ten years in prison on a felony charge stemming from his sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl, Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. announced.

            Sanders pled guilty in April 2015, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of first-degree child sexual abuse.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Rhonda Reid Winston. Upon completion of his prison term, Sanders will be placed on 5 years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

            According to the government’s factual proffer at the plea hearing, during April of 2014, Sanders came to live with a relative in Southeast Washington. The victim was on spring break from school that week, and was visiting relatives in the same household.  During that week, Sanders engaged in several sexual acts with the girl.  The conduct was discovered by family members via text messages that Sanders and the victim had sent to one another.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen praised the work of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division, which investigated the case, as well as the staff of Safe Shores, which interviewed the victim. He also expressed appreciation for the specialized medical treatment provided by the team of child abuse experts at the Freddie Mac Child and Adolescent Protection Center at the Children’s National Medical Center. In addition, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist D’Yvonne Key; Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica Vaughan, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted this case.