Friday, January 28, 2011

Update: Waterways Man Charged With Child Molestation

UPDATE: Robert G. Alter was arrested Friday and charged with sexually abusing six more children.


The new charges are felonies and range from lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under the age of 12 to sexual battery.

The incidents occurred from May 2010 to January 2011, according to detectives.

The victims are girls ages 7 to 11, detectives said.

Four of the victims were students at Pinecrest Elementary School and one of the victims attended Highlands Elementary School, both in Immokalee. The abuse occurred while Alter was working as a volunteer at the schools.

Detectives said the abuse occurred in the hallway at Highlands Elementary and in the library media center at Pinecrest Elementary.

Detectives said the other victim was a child Alter knew and that the abuse occurred at his residence in the Waterways community in Golden Gate Estates.

Alter was arrested late Friday afternoon at the Collier County jail, where he has been held since his Jan. 20 arrest on separate molestation charges involving a student at Highlands Elementary.

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Earlier news release:

Waterways Man Charged With Child Molestation

Posted Date: 1/20/2011 3:30 PM

A Golden Gate Estates man was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with the molestation of a student at Highlands Elementary School in Immokalee where he was a volunteer.

Robert G. Alter, 60, 1025 Port Orange Way in the Waterways community, was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under the age of 12. Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies working as members of the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force arrested Alter in Charlotte County. He is awaiting transfer to the Collier County jail.

The investigation began Jan. 13 after the Collier County Sheriff’s Office received information from a member of the school staff that a student may have been sexually abused in the school by a volunteer. Detectives with CCSO’s Special Victims Unit recovered evidence that supported the allegation. The investigation was presented to the State Attorney’s Office, which approved the arrest warrant.

The investigation is continuing to determine whether there are additional victims. Alter was also a volunteer at Pinecrest Elementary School in Immokalee.

If anyone has information on this case they are asked to call the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 239.252.9300 or to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.780.8477.

Robert Alter