PLEASANTON – In June, Christian Roberts walked out of jail on a pending charge of masturbating a woman in a Safeway, just the last time he faced such a charge.

According to Pleasanton police, the 30-year-old local man recently struck again, this time doing the same to a 13-year-old girl who lived in his apartment complex. Police say the two were playing a game of “hangman” that involved him writing words on her back when the girl noticed something was wrong and realized Roberts was sexually abusing her.

The alleged crime occurred on Oct. 22, according to the criminal complaint. Police say the girl’s mother called 911.

Roberts allegedly filmed the crime, but deleted the video when police arrived, then fled the area. Police located him at a nearby gas station and arrested him there, noting that he was still wearing an ankle monitor as a condition of his pretrial release in his public masturbation case, according to court records.

Roberts is now behind bars facing a felony charge of lewd act on a child, court records show. He is also accused of violating the terms of his $5,000 bail in the misdemeanor case.

In June, Roberts was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly masturbating on an employee who was stocking shelves in a Safeway in Oakland. In 2022, Roberts made headlines for allegations that he engaged in similar lewd behavior at two other Bay Area stores, in Palo Alto and American Canyon.

Napa County court records say Roberts pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor sex offense and was sentenced to 101 days in jail and one year of probation. His actual time behind bars was cut in half because it is considered a nonviolent offense, court records show.

His probation was still active when he allegedly committed a similar crime in Oakland, according to police. After posting $5,000 bail, he moved from Oakland to Pleasanton and befriended the alleged victim and her mother.

Roberts denied sexually abusing the girl in a police interview, but he admitted to selling videos “of similar acts” on the Internet, police said in court filings. Roberts is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 4 and his bail was set at $100,000.

Originally published: Oct 30, 2024 at 9:22 am PDT