Case of Robert Taylor

Case of Robert Taylor

(AKA: The Anaheim Molester)

Former Board Member - Temple Beth Emet, Anaheim, CA
Los Angeles, CA

Robert Taylor confessed to sexually assaulting a grade school aged boy several times, including inside of Temple Beth Emet.  

In 1991, the child won a $1.4 million law suit against his offender. The following year Robert Taylor attempted to sue his victim's family, along with the synagogue officials, claiming that they exaggerated his offense.  The judge dismissed the lawsuit, stating the case had no merit.

There are several individuals who go by the name of Robert Taylor. The individual discussed on this web page was born around 1950 and lived in Anaheim, CA in the 1980s.

If you have more information about this case, please forward it to The Awareness Center. We are also looking for a photograph of the Robert Taylor discussed on this site.

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves whether the resources meet their own personal needs.

Table of Contents: 

1980

1. Molestation of grade school aged boy began

1989

1. Pleaded guilty in August, 1989, to one count of molestation and served a six-month jail sentence.

1991

1. Anaheim man awarded $1.4 million for earlier molestation by neighbor (06/14/1991)
2. Punitive Damages: Molestation award increased (06/18/1991)

1992

1. Convicted molester sues victim's family Man says he was defamed, ostracized; he seeks $1.7 million (04/28/1992)
2. Anaheim Molester Files Suit Against Family of His Victim Law: He seeks $1.7 million from relatives and temple officials, saying they exaggerated the severity of his offense (04/29/1992)
3. Admitted Molester Loses Slander Suit (05/06/1992)
4. Verdict disappoints molester who accused victim's family (05/06/1992)

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Anaheim man awarded $1.4 million for earlier molestation by neighbor

By Pat Brennan

Orange County Register - June 15, 1991

A 19-year-old Anaheim man who said he was molested throughout his adolescence by a neighbor should receive $1.4 million in damages, an Orange County jury determined Thursday.

(NAME REMOVED) kept the molestation secret for nearly 10 years, but broke down in January 1989 after watching a television movie about AIDS, his attorney said. Two months later, (NAME REMOVED) told his parents that his Anaheim neighbor, Robert Taylor, had been molesting him since 1980 or 1981.

Taylor, 46, admitted molesting (NAME REMOVED) and served three months of a six-month jail sentence. But he contended during the civil trial that the molestation did not begin until 1988.

John West, Taylor's attorney, told jurors that (NAME REMOVED) suffered mental, developmental and emotional problems unrelated to the molestation.

A Superior Court jury, however, found that (NAME REMOVED) is entitled to $113,400 for the cost of hospitalization and psychological treatment, $410,000 for future medical expenses, $5,000 in lost earnings, $100,000 in anticipated lost earnings, and $750,000 for his pain and suffering.

Jurors will return to Orange County Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach on Monday to consider awarding punitive damages to (NAME REMOVED).

Mark E. Roseman, (NAME REMOVED) attorney, said the two families met through their synagogue and became friends. In 1982, the Taylors moved in next door to the (NAME REMOVED).

"The families belonged to the same synagogue, they car-pooled, they shared barbecues, they vacationed together," Roseman told the jury. "Essentially they had a very close relationship. And all the while, (Taylor) was telling (NAME REMOVED), `Don't tell anybody or we'll both be in trouble.' "

The molestation intensified once the families became neighbors, Roseman told the jury.

"They were our greatest friends," said (NAME REMOVED) mother, (NAME REMOVED)  "We had all the trust in the world with them."

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Punitive Damages: Molestation award increased

Orange County Register - June 18, 1991

An Orange County jury awarded an Anaheim man $750,000 in punitive damages Monday for enduring years of molestation by a neighbor, raising the total amount of damages awarded in the case to $2.1 million.

(NAME REMOVED), 19, contended through his parents and an attorney that he suffered nearly 10 years of molestation by a family friend, Robert Taylor. The lawsuit trial ended last week with a $1.4 million verdict by the Superior Court jury, which returned Monday to decide whether to award punitive damages against Taylor.

Taylor, who served three months in jail for the molestation, admitted molesting (NAME REMOVED), but he contended that the acts did not begin until 1988.

Shortly after the jury began deliberating Monday, Taylor shouted at (NAME REMOVED) mother, (NAME REMOVED)  "You know I never would have hurt him between the age of 8 and 13," Taylor said before he stormed out of the courtroom.

Later, (NAME REMOVED) aid she believed Taylor had been referring to her son's contention that the molestations began around 1979.

Superior Court Judge Richard W. Luesebrink ordered Taylor to return to court Friday morning.

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Convicted molester sues victim's family Man says he was defamed, ostracized; he seeks $1.7 million 

By Pat Brennan

Orange County Register - April 28, 1992

Robert Taylor admits molesting his Anaheim neighbor when the boy was 17. He even admits that he once molested him inside the synagogue where both were members, provoking such outrage among the congregation that Taylor was ousted from the temple.

But in a lawsuit claiming defamation and slander, Taylor contends that the outrage went too far.

Acting as his own attorney on the first day of a civil trial Monday, Taylor contended that the family of the victim and members of Temple Beth Emet in Anaheim exaggerated the allegations against him, smearing his reputation and exposing him to more ridicule than he deserved.

He wants $1.7 million in damages from the temple and the victim's family for making him a social outcast.

Taylor filed his suit after he pleaded guilty and served a six-month term in prison. He said the case is not about money, but about his right to worship in the synagogue of his choice.

"I offered to settle for nothing more than that they give me my membership back," he said Monday during a break in court proceedings. "Thirty-two board members do not have the right to tell me I cannot pray to God.

"The (the family of the victim) have the right to stand up and say, `Mr. Taylor is a child molester,' ' Taylor, 46, said in opening remarks to an Orange County Superior Court jury Monday. "What they do not have is the right to make up additional charges and say it's gone on for years."

Taylor insists that he molested the victim, now 20, for only one year, not 10 years as the family claimed in a previous lawsuit. And he says he never sodomized the child, despite the victim's recollection to the contrary.

But defense attorney Lynne Browning says the accusations by the victim's father were made at a board of director's meeting at the temple and are protected by state law.

Browning said it isn't her job to prove that all the allegations made by the victim's family against Taylor are true -- simply that they were made without malice and were based on the best information available at the time.

"There are only two people in the world who know what happened between Mr. Taylor and (the) young (man)," Browning told the jury Monday.

The molestation victim is suffering from such severe post-traumatic stress that he is a patient at a psychiatric facility, she said. Browning said the man's doctor refused to give her permission to bring him to court to testify.

Taylor took pains Monday to deny allegations that he considers untrue. At one point, Taylor called himself as a witness, then stepped up to the witness stand and questioned himself, at times delivering rambling, narrative answers.

Taylor pleaded guilty in 1989 to a single count of oral copulation with a minor and served four months of his six-month sentence in Orange County Jail. On Monday, however, he estimated that he molested the victim 10 to 12 times over a one-year period beginning in late 1987 or early 1988.

The family of the victim won a $2.1 million civil judgment in a lawsuit against Taylor last year, of which $300,000 has been paid by Taylor's insurance company. The family contended that the molestations began as early as 1980.

Taylor believes he has paid his dues, and says he wants to return to his faith. But he said he's been "blacklisted" by Orange County synagogues.

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Anaheim Molester Files Suit Against Family of His Victim Law: He seeks $1.7 million from relatives and temple officials, saying they exaggerated the severity of his offense 

By Matt Lait

Los Angeles Times - April 29, 1992

An Anaheim man who admitted he molested a 17-year-old youth inside a synagogue is suing the victim's family and temple officials for $1.7 million, alleging that they exaggerated the severity of his offense.

Robert Taylor, who is representing himself in his slander and defamation lawsuit, pleaded guilty in August, 1989, to one count of molesting the boy and served a six-month jail sentence.

As a result of his conviction, Taylor was expelled from the temple.

In the civil trial, which started Monday, Taylor alleged that the victim's family falsely accused him of abusing the boy over a 10-year period and sodomizing him. Taylor told the jury that he molested the boy about a dozen times over the course of a year. He said he was never convicted of sodomy.

"It's an argument over semantics," said Lynne Browning, the attorney representing the defendants, during a break in the proceedings Tuesday. "We don't believe there is any merit to the suit."

Browning said that the family's accusations were made at a meeting before the temple's board of directors and were protected under state law.

Taylor, who was once a member of the board of directors at Temple Beth Emet, claims that his reputation within the congregation was ruined and that he and his family suffered "mental anguish" over his ex-communication from the Jewish community of Orange County, according to court documents.

On Tuesday, Barry Klatzker, president of the temple, testified that the board of directors voted to expel Taylor from the temple at a November, 1989, meeting, after Taylor had admitted his guilt.

"There was a lot of tension in the air," Klatzker said about the meeting. "A number of board members were highly emotional about the whole situation."

Klatzker said that Taylor would have been let back into the temple if he fulfilled several acts of contrition outlined by the temple's rabbi. He further stated that the family's comments about Taylor were not made maliciously.

At the end of Tuesday's proceeding, Browning told reporters that the amount of damages Taylor is seeking is roughly equal to the amount he owes after losing a civil suit filed against him by the victim's family.

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Admitted Molester Loses Slander Suit

By Matt Lait

Los Angeles Times - May 6, 1992

An Anaheim man who admitted molesting a 17-year-old in a synagogue and then sued the victim's family and temple officials, claiming that they exaggerated his offense, was not slandered, a Superior Court jury decided Tuesday.

After deliberating less than six hours, the jury determined that statements made by the victim's family to officials at Temple Beth Emet were not maliciously aimed at the plaintiff, Robert Taylor. Several jurors said the case was unusual and sad, but not too difficult to decide.

"We felt bad for both parties," said Susan Kerns, the jury forewoman. "We felt that the plaintiff really needs recovery and felt real compassion for the defendants."

In his defamation suit, Taylor said the victim's family falsely accused him of molesting the boy for a period of more than eight years and of sodomizing him. Taylor, who denied committing either of those crimes, pleaded guilty in August, 1989, to one count of molestation and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Taylor, who acted as his own attorney, filed the suit because he said his reputation was ruined by the comments. After his conviction, Temple officials expelled him from the synagogue.

Even though he believes he is right, Taylor said after the verdict that the trial may not have been worth the misery it caused.

"When I look and I see the hurt I have done to the victim's family, to my own family . . . I don't know if it was worth it."

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Verdict disappoints molester who accused victim's family

By Pat Brennan

Orange County Register - May 6, 1992

Convicted child molester Robert Taylor was not slandered by his victim's family and does not deserve money damages, an Orange County jury decided Tuesday.

Taylor, 47, said he is satisfied that he has had his day in court and does not intend to appeal. Taylor contended the molestations were exaggerated by the victim's father during a board of directors meeting atTemple Beth Emet in Anaheim, and he was then expelled from the temple.

"Do I believe the jury system worked correctly? Yes," Taylor said outside court. "Am I unhappy with the verdict? Yes."

The victim, 20, is being treated in a psychiatric facility for post-traumatic stress and major depression as a result of the molestations. He revealed in 1989 that he had been molested by Taylor. He claimed that Taylor molested him over an eight- to 10-year period, and that the molestations included one act of sodomy. His father reported the allegations to the temple's board of directors.

But Taylor contended that he only molested the boy over the course of one year, when the victim was 17, and that he never committed sodomy. Taylor served four months of a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to one count of oral copulation with the boy, along with two other molestation-related counts involving other children.

Last year, the victim and his family won $2.1 million in damages in a lawsuit against Taylor.

The victim's parents said they were satisfied by the jury's verdict Tuesday.

"We're just so tired of rehashing the whole thing again," said the father, 48, of Anaheim, who testified in the trial under questioning by Taylor. "Every time we feel we're going to heal, it comes up again."

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