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Recruiter: Girl's story is lie

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published January 23, 2007

In his job recruiting young people to join the Army, Staff Sgt. Bruce Roberts meets a lot of kids who are headed down the wrong path. While visiting their classrooms, he hears startling tales about the influence of sex, crime and drugs in their young lives.

Now, Roberts is experiencing it firsthand.

The 29-year-old Land O'Lakes man is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old potential recruit he met while giving a presentation at her high school in October. He faces felony criminal charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and a possible investigation by the Army.

In an interview Monday, Roberts said the account given by the Sheriff's Office - that he and the girl had sex in a tent in some woods off Quail Hollow Boulevard - is flatly untrue. He said he never had sex with the girl. He said he never abused the trust he had earned among her and her friends - including telling their parents about their partying.

Maybe that was his mistake.

* * *

Roberts, with 11 years in the Army, became a recruiter last spring. He worked out of an office in Dade City and earned his gold recruiter badge in six months. He says he has signed up 17 new soldiers.

Before that, he did yearlong stints in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait and Iraq.

"I've never been in trouble in my entire life for anything, ever," said Roberts, who has no criminal history in Florida. "I love my job. I love what I did."

At a presentation in early October, he captured the interest of a handful of high school students. Neither Roberts nor the Sheriff's Office will name the school. He started holding physical training sessions - pushups, situps and running drills - with them and other recruits three times a week. Afterward, Roberts would drive the teens home.

On a Saturday night in mid November, he got a call from one of the teens. a call unrelated to the Army, or physical training, or their futures.

"They were throwing a going-away party for one of my guys a recruit that was leaving," Roberts said. "I get a call from a couple of the kids saying, 'Hey, two of the females out here told their parents they were at (physical training) and they need to get home.' "

Roberts said he drove to the spot and found a bacchanal. Half-dressed teenagers. Bottles of liquor. Strip poker. One kid offered Roberts a shot of Smirnoff.

The girls who needed rides were inside a tent.

"I stuck my head in and said 'Come on, we've got to go, I've got to get you guys home.' "

According to his arrest report, two witnesses told deputies Roberts was in the tent, though he denied it.

Roberts says he first drove home the girl who eventually accused him. Her parents weren't there, and she was relieved. He told her to take a shower and go to bed.

He drove the second girl home and then went to his own house, where he lives with his wife and two young daughters.

About three weeks later, the teens were planning another party. The girl who later accused him called and said she told her stepmother Roberts was taking her to a friend's house to spend the night.

"All along they were planning on going in the woods to go party," Roberts said.

Later that night while he was at home, the girl's stepmom called Roberts. She wanted the number where her daughter was supposedly staying. Roberts wouldn't give it. Later, the stepmom called again, demanding that he and all the kids at the party come to her house.

When Roberts arrived at the house, sheriff's detectives were already there. A spokesman said the investigation began after one of the girl's parents contacted authorities. Roberts waited around about two hours, then a detective said he'd be in touch.

His arrest came Friday.

Some obvious questions loom: Why drive two drunken teenage girls home and tell no one about it? Why not tell the kids' families what they were doing?

Roberts says that never crossed his mind.

"In ... my job, that's not good for me. If I go to the school, then they're mad at me," he said. "You sometimes have to look out for their well-being. A lot of these kids are scared of their parents.

"You're just trying to stay on their level and be their friend. Once they leave and get to see what the Army is like, then when they come home they'll refer other people to me," he said. "That helps me in my job be a better recruiter.

* * *

Roberts thinks his accuser pointed the finger at him because she was scared after getting in trouble again.

He is used to a certain level of mistreatment. People cuss at him. Parents tell him to take their kid's name off his list. They scream expletives about President Bush. He joined in high school and left for basic training a week after graduation.

Friday, while he waited for his dad to bail him out of jail, he said he was nearly killed. He said some other inmates saw his face on the news but somehow thought the accuser was 13, not 17. They got in his face.

His wife is devastated, but she's sticking by him. He has been placed in an administrative role at work, involving no contact with the public, an Army spokesman in Tampa said.

Roberts says he never intended to harm anyone.

"I was just trying to help these kids out and show them there's a different life out there. And they all knew it, if they ever got into any trouble that I would do whatever I could for them."

Times staff writer Thomas Lake contributed to this report. Molly Moorhead can be reached at (352) 521-6521 or moorhead@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 22, 2007, 22:21:39]