Photographer sentenced 40 years for sex crimes in San Diego County, Oregon

CARLSBAD, Calif. (KESQ) - A professional photographer previously sentenced in San Diego County to 25 years in state prison for sexually assaulting teenage girls during modeling sessions at a rented Carlsbad residence was sentenced in Oregon today to 40 years in federal prison.

Robert Koester, 59, who was sentenced by a Vista judge in 2019 to 25 years in state prison, pleaded guilty in two separate federal cases involving the production of child sexual abuse material, one of which concerned crimes in Koester's home state of Oregon, and another related to crimes in San Diego County.   

He was also sentenced in Oregon state court to a 50-year prison sentence for a series of sexual assaults, which will be served concurrently with his other two sentences.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon said that at the time of the crimes, Koester was in his late 40s and early 50s, while the victims were as young as 15. Prosecutors said Koester lured the victims "with the promise of a career in the fashion industry through his modeling agency, Frank Model Management."  

Koester was arrested in Carlsbad in late 2018.   

In his San Diego County case, he pleaded guilty to nearly two dozen felony counts related to raping and inappropriately touching the victims -- some of whom were drugged and unconscious during the abuse -- as well as creating child sexual abuse material of the girls.

His plea agreement in the federal cases state that after his arrest, a search of devices found in his Carlsbad apartment turned up child sexual abuse material related to two victims.

A subsequent search of his home and photo studio in Carlton, Oregon, revealed more material, including "sexually explicit images and videos of the minor victims,'' such as videos of Koester engaging in sex acts with victims who appeared to be unconscious, the plea agreement states.

Vials of a liquid substance seized by police were later tested and found to contain substances used in "date rape" drugs.