Probationer Gets 4 Years In Prison For Trying To Assault RivCo Girl

RIVERSIDE, CA — A 23-year-old probationer with a long rap sheet who tried to sexually assault a Riverside girl at a recreational facility was sentenced Friday to four years, six months in state prison.

Robert Willie Bates of Hemet pleaded guilty in March to attempted rape. In exchange for his admission, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office dropped a charge of contacting a minor with intent to commit a crime.

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, Superior Court Judge Charles Koosed certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.

According to the Riverside Police Department, on the afternoon of April 15, 2022, Bates confronted the victim, identified in court documents only as a teenage girl with the initials "L.H.," at the Orange Terrace Park Community Center, brandished an Airsoft pistol, which fires plastic projectiles, and tried to force himself on her.

The teen resisted and got away from him, investigators said. Patrol officers were called to the location, but Bates had already fled by the time they got there.

Detectives from the police department's Sexual Assault-Child Abuse unit followed up, gathering evidence that ultimately pointed to Bates as the perpetrator. He was arrested a month later.

According to court documents, Bates has an extensive criminal record going back to 2018, with convictions in adult court for felony and misdemeanor vandalism, receiving a stolen vehicle, theft and violating a court order.

Bates' juvenile record was not disclosed, but according to the criminal complaint in the attempted rape case, "sustained petitions in juvenile delinquency proceedings ... are numerous."

Bates has not previously served time in prison.