Robert Kolibas - Repeat Sex Offender - Should've known better

A Williston father was supposed to be listed on Vermont's sex offender registry -- but wasn't -- before he was accused of fondling a 13-year-old girl inside his home Monday, according to public safety officials.

"That's the flaw in the system. The registries depend on people who are so far off their moral compass they land on it to begin with and to then be truthful and tell them when they're moving," said Jennifer Mitchell, a neighbor of Kolibas and a child safety expert.

A Williston man was arraigned on three charges Monday in connection with claims he fondled a 13-year-old girl at his home after giving her a drug-laced "smoothie" drink.

Robert Kolibas, 50, apprehended in northern Maine on an arrest warrant this month and returned to Vermont over the weekend, was ordered held without bail by Judge Ben Joseph after pleading not guilty to three charges in Vermont District Court in Burlington.

According to a police affidavit, the girl was staying overnight at the Kolibas home May 30 with Kolibas' daughter. Both drank smoothies provided by Kolibas and then fell asleep after watching a movie on television.

The girl later awoke to find Kolibas touching her breasts and pelvic area.

"I just hear noises and I woke up," she is quoted in the affidavit as telling police. "He was just feeling me and trying to take my clothes off and everything."

The girl said she tried to awaken Kolibas' daughter by kicking her with her foot, but was stopped by Kolibas, who held her legs, the affidavit said. She also said she believed Kolibas was taking pictures of her while he was touching her.

"He whispered in my ear that he was sorry and that not to feel bad and not to tell anybody," the affidavit said, quoting the girl's statement.

The girl later called her mother to come get her. When the mother arrived, her daughter came out of the house disheveled, crying and walking strangely.

The mother confronted Kolibas, who told her that the girl was probably just "rubbing up against my daughter" or had had a nightmare, according to the affidavit. Police later determined the girl had levels of benzodiazepine, a sedative, in her blood.

During a subsequent investigation of the Kolibas home, police recovered three "smoothie bags" containing prescription drugs, the affidavit said. There was no information in the document about whether police recovered any photographs from the home.

At one point during the police search of the home, Kolibas was described as telling police that "he should have known that something like this was going to happen. They should never have allowed sleepovers."

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte