A Henry County jury found a Clinton man guilty on Thursday of 23 counts of sex crimes, including eight counts of sex trafficking, District Attorney LaChrisha Gray said.
The charges against Derek Brett Roberts, 44, were first filed in June 2022. Prosecutors alleged, among other things, that Roberts filmed himself performing explicit sex acts on children in his home.
The charges also include two counts of promoting child pornography and 13 counts of sexual abuse of a minor. The assaults included rape, sodomy and forced oral sex, filmed and stored on Roberts’ cellphone, according to court documents. Some of the videos were shown in court.
Court documents show the majority of Roberts’ victims were under the age of 12. Some were younger than 9.
Roberts could receive 23 life sentences, to be served consecutively, according to court records. He would not be eligible for parole for any individual sentence for at least 25 years.
Roberts attended Samford University in Alabama and was licensed as a pharmacy technician in Missouri, according to court records. He was also previously a licensed pharmacy technician in California.
Roberts was charged following an investigation led by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Drug and Crime Control division, according to a news release from Gray’s office. Investigators searched Roberts’ home and devices and found most of the child pornography on his phone.
Three children, who are not named in court documents because of their ages, have given statements to the court alleging sexual abuse by Roberts, according to court records. All three have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, court documents show.
This isn’t the first time Roberts has been convicted of crimes involving child pornography. Roberts pleaded guilty to possessing more than 20 pieces of child pornography in 2021, a case also prosecuted by Gray. He was sentenced to three concurrent 10-year sentences, to be served at South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri.
According to court records, Roberts is currently incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.
His sentencing date is set for August 8 by a Henry County judge.
