On September 30, Theron Roberts, 41, was sentenced to 6 to 23½ months of incarceration after a jury convicted him of felony institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, and two counts of indecent assault in June. At the time of the assaults, Roberts was the band director at Crestwood High School and the victim was a student.
Roberts’ advances date back to 2019, when the student was in seventh grade. According to testimony, Roberts befriended the victim and made progressive sexual advances over the years before he ultimately sexually assaulted her when she was in high school. The evidence showed that Roberts touched the student’s thigh during one-on-one classes, made comments about her romantic relationship with another student, and touched her in intimate areas, including grabbing the student’s buttocks in a private alcove area and promising threats if she told anybody what happened.
In addition to serving his 6 to 23½ month period of incarceration, Roberts is also required to register as a sex offender under the Sexual Offender Registration Notification Act (SORNA).
“This sentence ensures that the defendant is held accountable for what was predatory behavior and a blatant abuse of his position of authority,” Attorney General Henry said. “When someone in a position of trust chooses to exploit and abuse a student, it shakes the foundation of our educational system. Our schools should be safe spaces for students to feel comfortable learning and forming healthy relationships, not in fear of being preyed upon.”
This is not the first time that we have seen a pattern of abuse that involves a significant power imbalance. Teachers, band directors, and other individuals in places of authority, influence, or trust over students are in a position of unique power. As Attorney General Henry noted, when individuals in these positions choose to exploit that power, it has incredibly problematic repercussions not only on that individual student or child, but on our society as a whole.
Exploitation of a position of power for sexual gratification is a problematic phenomenon that we see not only in sexual assault cases such as this one, but in commercial sexual exploitation more broadly. The weaponization of power transcends cases like this and plays a key role in the maintenance of the sex trade.
The CSE Institute commends the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, prosecuting attorneys Deputy Attorney General Julia van Leeuwen and Senior Deputy Attorney Lauren Eichelberger, and the Wright Township Police Department for their efforts in investigating and prosecuting this case.
Above all, the CSE Institute praises the victim for her bravery in coming forward against her band director and reporting the crimes he committed against her.
Roberts’ defense attorney said that they will be appealing this decision. Pending appeal, Roberts is out on $25,000 unsecured bail. The CSE Institute will provide updates on this matter as they become available.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.