A Northshore man could go to prison for up to 99 years after his conviction for sexual assault of an elderly woman.
"A St. Tammany Parish jury deliberated for two hours before finding 47-year-old Bobby Mendell Bester of Slidell guilty of sexual battery," Assistant District Attorney Bruce Dearing said in a news release.
The case started seven years ago.
"The Slidell Police Department received a report in March of 2018 regarding a sexual assault having occurred at a nursing home on Robert Boulevard."
Dearing said a 69-year-old resident told the officers that Bobby Bester pressed her feet against his genitals.
He was a janitor at the facility and went into the woman's room while she was in bed.
"She said Bester commented about one of her socks having fallen off her foot and offered to put it back on for her. Bester closed the room’s door and window blinds. He produced some lotion and massaged the victim’s feet while asking her if she was ticklish. He began tickling her feet and pressed her feet against his genitals several times."
Cops got a warrant to arrest Bester, but couldn't find him.
"Bester was eventually arrested six years later in February, 2024. Upon being questioned, Bester acknowledged having a foot fetish but denied the accusation made against him by the victim."
During the trial, the woman testified.
Jurors also heard from another woman who said Bester tried to hire her to help him buy a home on the Northshore in 2007.
"The second woman recounted how she was working as a real estate agent in the Northshore area in 2007 when the defendant called her, posing as a potential buyer."
Dearing says Bester later told the woman he was not actually interesting in buying any real estate.
"The defendant continued to repeatedly call the woman, one time leaving a recorded message that the woman later provided to law enforcement. In the message, Bester says, 'Can I (masturbate) on your feet? I know you got sexy feet. Can I just suck on it or something?'”
Bester’s sentencing is set for October 23, 2025.
"Bester faces between 25 and 99 years in prison."
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