Teen girls thought they were chasing modeling careers. Prosecutors say they walked into a nightmare.

Teen girls thought they were chasing modeling careers. Prosecutors say they walked into a nightmare. A professional photographer previously sentenced in San Diego County to 25 years in state prison for sexually assaulting teenage girls during modeling sessions - Bookmark A photographer who lured teenage girls with promises of modeling careers before sexually abusing them and producing child sexual abuse material has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. Robert Koester, 59, also known as Bert Kay, was sentenced this week in Oregon after pleading guilty to producing child sexual abuse material involving victims in Oregon and California. The federal sentence comes seven years after he received a 25-year prison sentence in California for separate state convictions involving many of the same victims. Prosecutors said Koester used his modeling agency, Frank Model Management, to target girls as young as 15, promising them opportunities in the fashion industry before inviting them to stay at his homes in California and Oregon. According to prosecutors, Koester paid for some victims' airfare and gave them cocaine, marijuana and alcohol before coercing them into posing nude. They also alleged he administered drugs commonly associated with drug-facilitated sexual assaults before abusing the girls and photographing or filming the attacks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mira Chernick described the case as extraordinary because of the number of victims and the "sadism" involved in the abuse. During the sentencing hearing, the court heard a victim impact statement from one survivor, who said Koester deliberately targeted girls from troubled families because they were more vulnerable. "I still don't trust my own judgment. You are a danger to others and I will never forgive you," the statement said. The victim also said she still checks her bedroom for hidden cameras because of the trauma she endured. Given the opportunity to address the court, Koester said he was "mortified to have harmed" the girls. "I absolutely take responsibility for any harm I've caused," he said. "I don't know why I did what I did but I know I'm tremendously ashamed by it." Koester was arrested in Carlsbad, California, in 2018. He later pleaded guilty in San Diego County to nearly two dozen felony charges, including rape, sexual assault and producing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors said some victims were unconscious during the assaults. Federal court records state investigators found child sexual abuse material involving victims on electronic devices seized from Koester's California apartment. A subsequent search of his home and photography studio in Carlton, Oregon, uncovered additional images and videos, including footage prosecutors said showed Koester sexually abusing victims who appeared to be unconscious. Investigators also recovered vials containing substances later identified as drugs commonly used to facilitate sexual assaults. As part of his plea agreement, Koester forfeited his Oregon home, which was later sold for about $750,000, along with his photography equipment. "Koester's crimes against children are among the worst this district has seen," U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford said in a statement. "His violent abuse of these girls created scars they will carry their entire lives, and the images of that abuse will haunt them. I hope today's sentence brings a measure of justice and healing for the victims."