PENSACOLA, FL – A Florida man is in jail on 1,200 counts of sexual assault and incest against a child after a local pastor turned him into the authorities after a confession gone wrong. Robert Cota of Pensacola, 31, has been changed with 600 counts of sexual battery against a child and 600 counts of incest, according to police.
A pastor at a local area church reportedly went straight to the police after Cota allegedly approached him at a “new members” event and engaged him in a conversation. However, things quickly went south when the pastor said that Cota began asking him about the church guideline book’s rules pertaining to marriage, gender, and sexual conduct.
In particular, the pastor noted that Cota expressed a problem with the word “incest.” After further conversation, the pastor told Cota that what he was doing was wrong and encouraged him to turn himself into the authorities. Later, the pastor provided Cota’s address and phone number – which he had provided while at the new members event – to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s deputies contacted the victim and her mother at a separate address; at that time, the victim said that she had been “having sex” with Cota since she was seven years old, and estimated that she had 600 encounters with him over the course of several years. The victim reportedly said that Cota had told her that performing sex acts was how people display affection for one another.
Cota had allegedly been caught in bed with the victim in September by her mother, who said that she confronted Cota but that he would “shut down and not answer any questions.” He also allegedly pointed a gun at the victim at that time he was confronted, prompting deputies to arrest him on aggravated assault and domestic violence charges while investigating the sexual assault and incest claims.
When authorities initially asked Cota about the assault allegations, he stated that he had never abused the victim; however, he would later claim that he was not surprised to have been accused.
Cota is currently being held at the Escambia County Jail on a $3 million bond.
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