People v. Roberts CA4/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At trial, Roberts did not contest that between approximately September 2019 and the beginning of 2020, he engaged in a series of sexual acts

involving Boy.2 Boy was adopted from an Ethiopian orphanage as a young child. According to the evidence at trial, when Boy’s adoptive parents went to Ethiopia to adopt him in 2010, they were provided with a birth certificate that stated a birthdate in June 2006, meaning that Boy was identified as being three and a half years old when he was adopted. After Boy arrived in the United States, the Ethiopian birth certificate was used to generate an American birth certificate, which also stated a June 2006 birthdate. After the sexual conduct came to light, Roberts was charged in an indictment alleging 10 sexual acts that took place between August 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020. Based on Boy’s birthdate in June 2006, he was 13 years old during each of those alleged acts. Specifically, based on his stated age, Boy would have ranged from the age of 13 years and three months old in late September 2019 to the age of 13 years and eight months in late February 2020. Accordingly, each of the 10 counts alleged crimes that…