Former Ceres resident Robert Ray Amos, 65, of Lake County, has been convicted of three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 dating back to the late 1990s.

On May 18 a jury found him guilty of that crime against multiple victims.

According to Deputy District Attorney Erin Schwartz, Amos took advantage of his daughter’s female friend during sleepovers over multiple years dating back to the late 1990s to early 2000s. Two victims said they awoke to Amos touching them sexually, both over and under their clothing. Neither child reported the abuse until 2015, after Amos admitted to his daughter that he had touched his granddaughter on her privates as she slept while they were living in Lake County. As a result of his admission, Jane Does 1 and 2, as well as two other victims, came forward to report similar instances of abuse to police.

A third girl had also spent time at the Amos residence in the early 2000s and one night she woke up to Amos touching her sexually. She reported the abuse immediately to the Ceres Police Department, but no charges were filed. In 2015, she reported the abuse a second time to the Modesto Police Department, along with the first two victims.

Amos was arrested and charged with sexually molesting three victims under the age of 14 years old.

His trial was to start in December but was delayed because of the pandemic. A Stanislaus County Superior Court jury began hearing the case on May 6 before Judge Shawn Bessey. Amos was found guilty on May 18 of the three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, but the jurors were unable to reach verdicts on the remaining two counts. 

Victim impact statements and sentencing is set for June 11. Amos faces a potential maximum sentence of 75 years-to-life in state prison. He will also have to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.