Palmer jury convicts Robert Hawes on four felony sex abuse counts

A Palmer jury convicted Robert Hawes, 72, on Thursday of sexually abusing a 4-year-old child, returning guilty verdicts on all four counts after about two hours of deliberation. He awaits sentencing.

The convictions — three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one of attempted sexual abuse — stem from conduct in June 2021. Evidence at trial established that Hawes committed multiple acts of sexual abuse against the child in his home, the Alaska Department of Law said.

The week-and-a-half trial, before Palmer Superior Court Judge Tom Jamgochian, included testimony from a defense expert in child suggestibility and memory who challenged the reliability of the child's disclosures. The jury convicted on all four counts after hearing that testimony. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Wininger-Howard, who stepped down as Palmer's district attorney in 2024 to focus on sexual assault and abuse cases, and was investigated by the Alaska State Troopers' Crimes Against Children Unit.

Such cases play out against a stark statewide backdrop. Alaska's rate of reported and substantiated child sexual abuse was 8.7 per 10,000 children in 2023, the most recent year with comparable figures, the state Department of Public Safety reported — higher than the national rate of 6.1 per 10,000.

Hawes is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 25.