An Exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation finds the man behind Monday's Amber Alert was awarded custody of his two young daughters despite being convicted of sexually molesting a young girl.
William C. Roberts, 40, was captured Tuesday after he allegedly kidnapped his 15-year-old daughter Monday night outside a Brunswick K-Mart.
But court records show Roberts was charged with five counts of rape in 2005 and eventually pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition, and served three years in prison.
That did not stop Portage County Juvenile Court a year ago from awarding Roberts - -a registered sex offender -- custody of both his 15 and 11 year old daughters.
For nearly a full year they lived under the same roof until Roberts was charged with allegedly smoking meth inside the family home.
Only then were both girls placed in foster care.
But our investigation found Roberts is not only a registered sex offender, but his violent background should have been know to the courts.
It was well known to police.
In 2012, Roberts was accused of threatening to kill his girlfriend by "cutting her head off," according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to domestic violence and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
But we found even more.
A year earlier, a Kent Police report described Roberts' sister alleging that he was "going to get wasted, kill his girlfriend" -- and then -- "shoot his sister in the head."
Roberts pleaded guilty to aggravated menacing.
In addition to a history of violence, court records revealed a judge once wrote Roberts was "an unsuitable parent" and repeatedly failed to pay child support.
Both Portage County Children's Services and court officials have failed to respond about how and why Roberts was awarded custody.
