Registered Sex Offender Charged With Cherry Neighborhood Assaults

“Most kids know their abusers and most parents know their kids’ abusers,” said Ann Glaser with Pat’s Place.

According to court documents, registered sex offender 53-year-old Robert Byam is accused of breaking into a home in the Cherry Neighborhood where he lives and sexually assaulting three girls, ages 6 to 13. Arrest warrants say the assaults happened between June 1st and October 18th.

Off-camera, the girls’ parents told me Byam had befriended the family. They had him over for dinner in the past since he lived up the street, but the parents tell WCCB they did not know he was a registered sex offender. Other neighbors, who didn’t want to go on camera, told us they knew of Byam and heard on the neighborhood Facebook page to be aware.

Ann Glaser with Pat’s Place says parents should check the Sex Offender Registry to see if any live nearby.

“It’s accessible, it’s public knowledge, and of course you can Google that. You can put street addresses and you’ll know if somebody is in your area, and of course you should be aware of that,” said Glaser.

Glaser says parents should talk to children over 10 years old about what a sex offender is. She says parents should teach younger children that no one can touch them and to speak up if anyone does.

“With little ones, talking about body safety, my body is mine, knowing the correct language for all the parts of their body, including their private parts,” said Glaser.