The State : 10 Years for Molestation

A former University of California professor was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no-contest to 21 counts of sexually molesting his adopted twin daughters and another teen-age house guest. Joseph Royce, 62, who was on the faculty of UC Berkeley’s physical education department for 28 years, originally was charged with 71 felony sex offenses, but the other 50 charges were dismissed in a plea bargain. Appearing before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman before her father was sentenced, one of the twin daughters tearfully begged the court for a harsher sentence, saying Royce “is not a human being. Anybody who could do this to their own children is sick.” But defense attorney Lincoln Mintz said he refused to concede “that because (Royce) committed these acts, he has forfeited his humanity.” Royce’s daughters have filed a $20-million civil suit against him.