Clearwater man accused of drugging two girls

By Times staff writers

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 4, 2000

CLEARWATER -- A 30-year-old Clearwater man was charged with two counts of child abuse Friday morning after authorities say he gave two girls a "date rape" drug, GHB. The incident began Thursday about 10:30 p.m. when police responded to a call about an unresponsive 12-year-old girl at the Sea Air Motel on Clearwater Beach, the same motel in which the man was staying, said Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor. The child was lethargic and emergency workers suspected a drug overdose. Police then found Joseph W. Robertson, also unresponsive, in a nearby room along with a substance they think is GHB, Shelor said. Police say Robertson, 30, of 41 Devon Drive Apt. 21 gave the girl and a 15-year-old girl a drug they think was GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate. The girls were staying at the motel, Shelor said. GHB is a colorless, odorless liquid drug that, mixed with alcohol, can render a person unconscious in minutes. Lab tests are being conducted on the substance, Shelor said. The girl was revived at the hospital and Robertson was being held at the Pinellas County Jail Friday in lieu of $20,000 bail. Police said an investigation is continuing.

High school student says motorist grabbed her

CLEARWATER -- Authorities are searching for a man who grabbed a 16-year-old girl as she walked to her bus stop Friday morning in High Point.

The Pinellas Park High School student told sheriff's investigators she was walking near Westminster and Colfax avenues about 6:15 a.m. when a man drove by and tried to talk to her.

She ignored him but he came back. This time he got close enough to grab her by the clothes and pull her to the car, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. The teenager said the man was masturbating, Pasha said. Scared but unhurt, she escaped and telephoned her mother from school.

He is described as a 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 Hispanic man weighing 130 to 140 pounds with dark hair, dark eyes, clean-shaven with bushy eyebrows. He was driving a silver four-door, American-made car that had a temporary tag in the middle of the rear window.

Anyone with information is asked to call (800) 873-TIPS or the Sheriff's Office at 582-6200.

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