Former Pismo Beach man sentenced to prison for molesting young family member

A man from Pismo Beach has been sentenced to 16 years in state prison for molesting a child in 2014, District Attorney Dan Dow announced Friday.

Donald Keith Roberts, 43, was sentenced for two counts of child molestation involving a young family member under the age of 14, in Pismo Beach, according to a District Attorney’s Office news release. Roberts’ sentence was doubled to 16 years under California’s Three Strikes Law, after he admitted to a prior conviction in 1999 for attempted murder.

Roberts moved to Washington state after the molestation. The survivor moved out of state and reported the crime in 2019.

“The survivor was courageous when reporting the crime years after it happened and by doing so provided the opportunity to hold this predator accountable,” Dow said in the news release.

Police in Snohomish County, Washington, forwarded the investigation to the Pismo Beach Police Department.

District Attorney’s Office investigators extradited Roberts from Washington in 2020 for prosecution. His case was prosecuted by the Sexual Violence Unit’s Deputy District Attorney Melissa Chabra.

On Jan. 28, 2022, Roberts pleaded no contest, which is treated as a guilty plea in cases of criminal conviction, according to the news release.

“We thank our law enforcement partners in Washington state for assisting in the initial investigation, and Pismo Beach Police Department for quickly investigating this crime so that it could be successfully prosecuted, and the victim afforded justice,” Dow said in the news release.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 4:57 PM.