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Man pleads guilty to rape of teen

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News-Press, The (Fort Myers, FL)

Dateline: Lee County, FL

By AMY BENNETT WILLIAMS

awilliams@news-press.com

A former San Carlos Park foster father pleaded guilty Monday to charges he raped his teenage foster daughter three years ago.

Robert Jackson, who will be sentenced Sept. 2, faces 10 years in prison and 20 years of probation. He also will be required to have no contact with the victim and to register as a sexual predator for the next 30 years.

"Mr. Jackson is looking forward to getting these charges behind him and paying for the mistake he made," said his attorney, Joseph Viacava.

Jackson, 58, declined to comment.

The felony charges - one count of sexual assault by a person of familial or custodial authority and two counts of unlawful sexual activity - could have meant up to 30 years in prison had the case gone to trial and he'd been convicted.

The complex case began with Robert Jackson's arrest in 2006.

Jackson's wife, Janie, called the police after finding him and his foster daughter, then 16, having sex. The Jacksons had been foster parents since 2003 and had cared for at least 22 foster children over the years. The News-Press is not naming the girl because of the nature of the case.

In May, Jackson was released after posting $150,000 bail.

In July, the girl disappeared.

In August, The News-Press learned she was with her parents in a village in her native Guatemala and reached her there by phone.

She said at the time that she'd been told Jackson would be jailed for the rest of his life and she thought if she were gone, he'd be in less trouble.

The girl later said Janie Jackson had orchestrated the trip to Guatemala, bought her a plane ticket, suggested she steal her sister's passport and drove her to the Miami airport.

But in November 2006, two social workers, Mary Lewis and Anna Rodriguez, flew to Guatemala to retrieve the girl. With the help of the Guatemalan government and other social service agencies, they were able to get the girl a passport for the return trip.

She sat silently on one side of the court Monday, surrounded by family, as Janie Jackson sat on the other, shaking her head as her husband entered his plea.

In the hallway afterwards, she told the girl, "I hope you're happy now."

The girl did not respond.

2008 Jun 17