Former Beaumont city manager charged with raping teenager

In total, 62-year-old Robert Powell Sherwood is accused of seven serious crimes in connection with the allegations of sexual abuse.

June 6, 2024, 4:19 p.m. PDT | Updated June 6, 2024, 4:27 p.m. PDT

BEAUMONT, CALIFORNIA — Retired Beaumont Community Services Director Robert Sherwood is facing serious charges, including rape and lewd acts with a child, allegedly filed while he and the underage victim both worked for the city.

Sherwood, who resigned from his city post in July 2018, was extradited from Clark County, Nevada, and booked into Banning’s Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility on May 26. During his arraignment on May 30, he pleaded not guilty to one count of rape by fear/force, two counts of lewd and lascivious act upon a child, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. All of the charges are felonies.

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The victim, now in her 30s, did not come forward until July 29, 2022. She told Beaumont police that Sherwood began sexually abusing her more than 20 years ago when she worked for the city as a teenager. Sherwood was allegedly her supervisor, according to a May 9 statement in support of the arrest warrant filed in Riverside County.

It is not clear if the victim was actually a city employee or a volunteer and what her duties were at the time of the alleged abuse. Patch has reached out to the city for more information.

Sherwood was also the head coach of the Beaumont High School girls soccer team for at least the 2008-09 season.

The alleged crimes occurred in Beaumont between August 2001 and February 2002, when the victim was between 14 and 15 years old, according to the statement and an April 30 criminal complaint against Sherwood.

“The victim recalled several incidents in which Sherwood either digitally penetrated her vagina or forced her to have sexual intercourse with him,” said the statement signed by Detective M. Acosta of the Beaumont Police Department.

After reporting her allegations to police in 2022, the victim cooperated with investigators, including participating in a monitored phone conversation with Sherwood. During the conversation, he did not deny allegations that he sexually abused her when she was a vulnerable teenager.

“I don’t understand how you can say you were trying to help me when you had sex with me when I was a 15 or 16-year-old girl,” the victim told Sherwood over the phone.

He reportedly replied, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you in any other way.”

Sherwood was later questioned by investigators and denied all allegations.

Sherwood left California on November 14, 2019. According to court documents, he has an address in Las Vegas.

Riverside County Jail records show he was released on bail on May 30 and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 9 for a plea bargain hearing in the case, where attorneys for both sides will attempt to negotiate a resolution to the case.

Patch left a message for Sherwood’s lawyer.

An archived Record Gazette article reported on Sherwood’s retirement in the city of Beaumont.

“We appreciate the many years he has dedicated to the Beaumont community and wish him well in his future endeavors,” the city said in a statement.