Man Gets Life for Rape of Burbank Officer’s Daughter

With members of the Burbank Police Department looking on and smiling in approval, a Superior Court judge Friday sentenced a man convicted of raping a policeman’s teen-age daughter during a series of armed robberies to life in prison and then some.

Robert (Snake) Smith, 25, of Panorama City, found guilty by a jury last month on 33 felony counts, was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms, plus an additional 71 years and eight months.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Howard J. Schwab added: “I note for the record this case involved unspeakable psychological mayhem . . . I recommend that Mr. Smith never be released from prison, that he be held there until he dies.”

After ordering Smith transported to state prison, Schwab added: “This case involves unspeakable outrage. I am totally appalled.”

During a 10-day crime spree in April, 1991, Smith and a small group of bandits who specialized in early morning, home-invasion robberies committed 15 armed robberies, seven residential burglaries and five kidnapings for the purpose of robbery, a jury found.

In one incident, a mother and daughter were surprised by two shotgun-toting men in their Panorama City home. As in most of the other cases, the victims were brought into the living room and covered with a blanket.

But when one of the men saw a mirror imprinted with the words “Burbank Police Department” and learned that a Burbank police officer owned the home, he flew into a rage and raped the officer’s 15-year-old daughter, according to the girl’s testimony during the three-week trial.

On Friday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman, who prosecuted the case, read a letter from the officer whose daughter was raped: “My wife and daughter have been left with a life sentence because of the inhumane act perpetrated on them by this animal that sits in court today.”

After the sentencing, Richman said: “I’m glad he’ll never get out of prison . . . but it doesn’t undo what’s been done by the defendant.”

Two other men involved with Smith have pleaded guilty to residential burglary. James Crooms, 23, of Pacoima and Bevin Graham, 24, of Panorama City have been sentenced to nine-year and seven-year prison terms, respectively.