ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A former Rockwood School District employee appeared in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Thursday to be sentenced for molesting a student with Down syndrome.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said Robert Smith, 52, pleaded guilty on April 9 to one count of fourth-degree child molestation.

According to a spokesman for the Eureka Police Department, the crime occurred on Feb. 11, 2022. A resource officer at Eureka Senior High School was alerted to a possible sexual assault. The officer learned Smith made non-consensual contact with a student in a special needs classroom.

Prosecutors said the student was non-verbal and incapable of offering consent, and Smith knew this.

The victim’s mother spoke at the sentencing hearing, saying Smith attempted to harass their family and that he pleaded guilty “because all these cruel tactics and tricks did not work as he had hoped, and they did not silence or intimidate us.”

A circuit court judge sentenced Smith to three years in state prison.