Ex-mayor sexually 'groomed' underage foreign exchange student in California

A former mayor of a small California city has received the maximum sentence after "grooming" a foreign exchange student who had been living with him.

On Wednesday, Robert Bassett, 58, pled no contest to three felonies: unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a person under 18, and sexual penetration of a person under 18, court records show.

'Bassett violated the trust she placed in him while she was in the United States, thousands of miles from her family.'

The victim in this case has been identified as a female "underage foreign exchange student" who lived in his home in 2023, when he was mayor of Biggs, California, according to a press release from the Butte County district attorney's office. Biggs is a city of 2,000 residents about 65 miles north of Sacramento.

"Bassett groomed the victim for several months before engaging in illegal acts with her," the press release said.

Bassett was arrested back in July after Gridley police spent months investigating allegations that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with the girl, who was 17 when she lived with him in 2023, the DA's office said.

Police reached out to the girl in her home country, which has not been identified, and she reported having "several sexual encounters" with Bassett during her stay in his home, per the press release.

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Bill Oxford/Getty Images

During the hearing Wednesday, the prosecutor read a statement from the victim, "detailing the ongoing pain and suffering she still experiences, knowing that Bassett violated the trust she placed in him while she was in the United States, thousands of miles from her family."

While the probation department recommended a lesser sentence, Butte County Superior Court Judge Michael Deems gave Bassett the maximum of four years and four months and ordered him to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he is released, "citing the victim's vulnerability, the grooming pattern, and the violation of a position of trust as aggravating factors," the DA's office said.

The attorney listed for Bassett did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Bassett joined the Briggs City Council in 2018 and served as mayor from 2022 through 2024. He was renominated for a second term as mayor but did not receive the necessary votes to continue in that role.

He remained on the city council but resigned in 2025 amid allegations of extortion. An independent investigation later determined that the allegations couldn't be proven, according to Action News Now.

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