Santa Fe, NM (KKOB) – A seventy-seven-year-old Santa Fe man has pleaded guilty in a sexual assault case involving a child. Robert Berardinelli Junior admitted to three counts of criminal sexual contact connected to incidents involving an eleven-year-old girl in 2021. Investigators say the assaults occurred on three separate occasions.
Berardinelli entered the guilty plea on reduced charges while maintaining his innocence and was sentenced to at least five years of supervised probation. Family members of the victim told the court they agreed to the plea deal to spare the child further trauma and avoid requiring her to testify.
Berardinelli is the son of a former Santa Fe city councilor.
