CAMARILLO : Man Convicted of Child Molestation

A Camarillo man was convicted Thursday of 10 counts of child molestation for having an affair with a young girl he met while he was director of a Catholic youth program.

Robert C. Rose, 49, faces a mandatory prison term but will remain free on bail pending his Jan. 27 sentencing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Saundra T. Brewer said.

The minimum possible sentence is three years in prison. Brewer said she has not determined what the maximum sentence would involve.

Jurors deliberated just over a day before convicting Rose on all 10 felony charges involving the girl, who is now 14. She testified that she met Rose while attending religion classes at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, where he was director of the youth education program.

Eventually they began fondling each other in his car when he gave her rides home, she said.

The girl, who was 12 when the affair began in January, 1993, testified that for several months she did not resist Rose’s sexual advances. But she eventually stopped the relationship out of fear she might get pregnant if they had sexual intercourse.

Defense attorney James M. Farley is expected to seek a new trial at the sentencing hearing. Last week, Farley unsuccessfully requested a mistrial after a witness unexpectedly blurted out information that the jury was not supposed to hear.