Man Pleads Guilty in Child-Support Case

A 46-year-old father who owes nearly $240,000 in back child-support payments to his Thousand Oaks family pleaded guilty to a felony Wednesday and now faces a year in jail, prosecutors said.

Larry Lee Roberts, formerly of Camarillo, was arrested Feb. 14 in Denver after eluding authorities since 1987, when a warrant was first issued for his arrest.

A father of four, Roberts pleaded guilty to failure to pay child support. He will be sentenced March 29, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin D. Farrell.

“He’s been an utter failure as a parent,” said Farrell. “He never paid a dime of support.”

Roberts and his ex-wife, Maria Roberts, divorced in 1982. She has said that her husband has worked as a military intelligence officer, a police officer in Kern County and, during most of their marriage, as a finance manager for an auto dealership.

While on the run, Roberts once was employed as a card player by a Las Vegas casino.

Roberts’ attorney said that the father regrets not taking care of his children.

“He’s sorry that things turned out the way that they did,” said Nicholas Falcone, a deputy public defender. “Once he gets out of jail, it’s his intention to start things over and do the right thing.”

Falcone said Roberts hopes to get his monthly support obligation lowered so he can start paying it.

After an arrest warrant was issued eight years ago, investigators from the district attorney’s office tracked Roberts through Arizona and Nevada before taking him into custody in Colorado.