Ex-Nipomo coach pleads no contest to sexually assaulting girl
A former Nipomo girls softball coach will spend at least 19 years in state prison after accepting a plea deal in San Luis Obispo Superior Court Thursday, pleading no contest to sexually assaulting a girl over the span of six years.
Robert John Bergner, 51, was facing 126 charges, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, forcible lewd acts on a child, and sodomy of a victim aged 14 to 17, child molestation, possession of child pornography, unlawful intercourse with a minor under 16 and unlawful intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than the perpetrator.
But on Thursday, Bergner accepted the deal and pleaded no contest to one felony count of aggrravated sexual assualt of a child under 14 and felony lewd acts on a child under 14.
The pleas carry a total of at least 18 years to life in state prison. San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said that the latter charge carries a minimum of just over four years in prison and the assault charge carries a minimum sentence of 15 years to life. Bergner will not be eligible to seek parole until 2035, when he will be 70 years old.
Bergner was formerly a softball coach for the Nipomo Youth Softball League, a recreational 12-and-under league. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the case, has released little information about the case but said in a news release that an 18-year-old woman contacted deputies to report that she had been molested by Bergner beginning when she was 12 and continuing until May 2015.
After launching an investigation, detectives with the Sheriff’s Sex Crimes Unit soon arrested Bergner at his home in the 900 block of Primavera Lane in Nipomo.
The criminal case against him was settled before proceedings reached a preliminary hearing, when evidence would have been presented in open court.
Dow said Thursday that he’s pleased with the outcome of the case because the victim will not have to testify and Bergner will be off the streets until he is at least 70.
“At the end of the day, we want a just result,” Dow said. “(This agreement) saves the victim from having to testify and relive the (abuse) on the stand. We thought that was the most important outcome.”
Dow declined to provide any more details on the circumstances surrounding the case in order to protect the identity of the victim.
Bergner is scheduled to be sentenced March 22 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Ex-Nipomo coach pleads no contest to sexually assaulting girl."