Robert Thysell had been facing up to nine years in prison for
felony charges of a lewd act with a child, possession of child
pornography and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
A 51-year-old Hollister man was sentenced to 270 days in county jail and four years of probation for molesting a 7-year-old girl and taking pornographic pictures of her in Grover Beach.
The sentence came at a hearing July 8 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Records of the hearing were not made available to the Free Lance until Monday.
Robert Thysell had been facing up to nine years in prison for felony charges of a lewd act with a child, possession of child pornography and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Thysell, however, made a deal with San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Andy Cadena to drop his felony charges for guilty pleas to less serious offenses.
Cadena did not return phone calls left at his office last week, but Chief Deputy District Attorney Jerret Gran said he did not believe Thysell got off easy.
“You have to remember this is a complicated affair,” Gran said. “A felony was originally charged, but after further investigation the felony charges were determined to be not provable. Things the child said Thysell did to her were basically not provable.”
Thysell was arrested April 21 in Hollister after a month-long investigation by Grover Beach Police. He was a longtime family friend of the victim and after the girl told police he had molested her, a search of his house produced a partially nude photograph her as well as a methamphetamine pipe.
Along with his jail sentence, Thysell will have to register as a sex offender, attend counseling and stay away from any female minors and places were children frequent.
