Acting Coach Accused of Molestation

Hollywood talent manager and child acting coach Robert D. Villard pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he sexually molested a 13-year-old boy.

Villard, 57, is accused of molesting the boy, now 18, between October 1999 and October 2000.

Bail was set at $900,000. The youth reported the allegations to Los Angeles police last September.

“We believe there may be other victims out there we’d like to talk to or people who may know about these charges,” said Capt. Sharyn Buck, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s child sexual abuse unit.

Villard’s attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, said his client is innocent.

He said the LAPD’s child sex crimes unit has been out to get Villard since the 1980s, when a jury found him guilty of transporting child pornography, but a judge dismissed all charges.

In January, Villard pleaded no contest to a child pornography misdemeanor charge stemming from a November 2001 arrest by the LAPD.

Villard was sentenced to three years’ probation, Diamond said.

“We are two for two and I expect to be three for three,” said Diamond, who considers those cases victories.

The 2001 arrest stemmed from an investigation by Oceanside police and the FBI into lewd acts with children by associates of a child clothing firm. The investigation led to a search of Villard’s apartment and recovery of pornographic material featuring boys.