The Henry County Circuit Court sentenced a Clinton man to 23 life sentences for 23 counts of sex crimes, including eight counts of sex trafficking, according to prosecutor LaChrisha Gray.
Charges against Derek Brett Roberts, 44, were initially filed in June 2022. Among other things, prosecutors said Roberts filmed himself performing sex acts on children in his home. He was found guilty for all counts by a jury in June 2024.
Charges also include two counts of promoting child pornography, and 13 counts related to sexual assault of a minor. The assaults included rape, sodomy and forcible oral sex, filmed and stored on Roberts’ cellphone, according to court documents. Some of the videos were shown in court.
Court documents show that the majority of Roberts’ victims were under 12 years old. Some were younger than 9.
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 after an investigation led by the Drug and Crime Control division Missouri State Highway Patrol, according to a news release from Gray’s office. Investigators searched Roberts’ home and devices, finding the majority of the child pornography on his phone.
Three children, who were not named in court documents due to their age, provided statements to the court about being sexually assaulted by Roberts, according to court records. All three have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, court documents show.
This isn’t Roberts’ first time being convicted of crimes related to 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 sentences of 10 years, to be served in the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri.
Reporting from The Star’s Ilana Arougheti contributed to this article.
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