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Sex offender receives probation for new offense
McCOOK, Neb. -- A local sex offender was ordered back on probation last week and to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18. The man, 76-year-old Robert "Bob" Burton of 1310 W. Circle Drive, was similarly ordered to have no contact with children in 2010 when he was convicted of third degree sexual assault.
Last week's conviction represents Burton's third for disturbing the peace in Red Willow County in the last seven years and follows multiple protection order requests, all from different women and dating back to at least 1999. A review of court documents indicates at least eight different women have either requested protection orders against Burton or were listed as victims in criminal complaints.
Details pertaining to a 1999 protection order request were unavailable, however, court documents indicate a second woman was granted a protection order in October of 2006 and a third woman was granted one in December of 2008. A fourth woman was denied a protection order a few days after the December of 2008 request.
Burton was subsequently convicted of disturbing the peace in October of 2009 and ordered to serve 12 months probation. He was subsequently released satisfactorily from probation on June 4, 2010.
Burton was again convicted of disturbing the peace in November of 2010 stemming from an offense occurring at Schmick's Market on June 5, 2010, one day after being released from probation in the prior conviction. The complaint lists two additional women as victims, as well as a neighborhood near the 200 block of Westview Plaza. According to a witness who testified against Burton at trial, he inappropriately grabbed a female minor in chest area while she was standing in a food line.
Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood would not comment on the case at the time, other than to reiterate that Burton disturbed the peace of certain individuals, as mentioned in court documents.
Burton was subsequently sentenced to five days in jail.
The same day Burton was sentenced to jail in the Schmick's Market incident he was also convicted of third degree sexual assault without consent, a Class I misdemeanor. The offense stemmed from Burton grabbing the breast of an adult woman on Sept. 14, 2010, while the incident with the minor was still working its way through the court system.
According to court documents, the woman called Burton on the phone following the incident under the supervision of investigators. During the recorded conversation the victim told Burton that she would not have consented to his inappropriate touching had he asked, Burton replied, "well then at least I got a free feel."
In December of 2010, Red Willow County Court Judge Anne Paine sentenced Burton to 90 days in jail and 18 months probation, in addition to ordering he register as a sex offender and have no unsupervised contact with females under the age of 18. The jail sentence was split with 45 days to be served up front and 45 days suspended until after the successful completion of probation.
Burton was subsequently released satisfactorily from probation in June of 2012 and arrested again in November of 2012 for criminal trespassing on McCook Public School grounds. He was fined $100 for the offense a month later.
Burton's most recent disturbing the peace conviction involved an underage girl and stemmed from an offense occurring on Aug. 28, 2015, on the 1300 block of West Circle Drive. Additional details pertaining to the incident are unavailable in court documents.
He was sentenced on Dec. 17, 2015, to serve 12 months probation.
County Court Judge Anne Paine also ordered Burton follow the recommendations of a sex offender assessment and suspended a 30 day jail sentence until Sept. 1, 2016, unless waived by the court at the recommendation of his probation officer.
Paine again ordered Burton have "no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18."