Law change finds Stuarts Draft sex offender in hot water

Notice how someone convicted of a lower offense is MADE a violent sex offender by a CHANGE in law applied retroactively. That change resulted in a criminal charge for an innocent act that, he could not have been charged with before the change in law.

11-20-2009 Virginia:

STAUNTON — ___ was a 23-year-old part-time baseball coach at Riverheads High School in March 1999 when a 14-year-old girl from the school snuck away from her parents house and met with ___.

Together, they drove to a Stuarts Draft cabin and engaged in consensual sex. After the teen stepped forward with details of the incident, _____ was brought to trial and pleaded guilty in 2000 to one count of statutory rape. A second charge was not prosecuted, court records show. With the Augusta County felony conviction, _____ was forced to register with the Virginia State Police as a non-violent sex offender.

But _____’s status changed in July 2008 when the Virginia Assembly modified the state’s carnal knowledge statute, making it a violent sexual offense when the perpetrator is more than five years older than a 13 or 14-year-old victim. After the law change, _____, who was nine years older than his victim, was re-categorized as a violent sexual offender.

The change in law now finds ___ in legal trouble and facing the possibility of a 10-year prison sentence.

On Oct. 13, _____, who works for NAPA Auto Parts, visited Shelburne Middle School on Grubert Avenue on a business call during school hours, according to evidence presented Wednesday at a preliminary hearing in Staunton General District Court. _____ pulled his car into the rear of the property near a maintenance shop attached to the school. As he milled about his car, he caught the eye of sixth-grade teacher Resa Aikens.

“I just had an uneasy feeling, so I called the office,” Aikens testified.

Her suspicions would result in ____, 33, being charged with a violent sex offender entering school grounds.

After Aikens contacted the administrative office, school resource officer Aaron McFarlane of the Staunton Police Department responded. McFarlane said he spotted a black four-door Dodge Neon parked behind the school. Following protocol, he had a police dispatcher run the license plate number and was informed the car was registered to _____ of Stuarts Draft, a violent sex offender.

McFarlane said he entered the maintenance shop, where he found _____. McFarlane testified that _____ said he was given permission by Virginia State Police Trooper Melody Parsons to travel to the school to conduct business sales. Parsons, however, testified she gave no such permission.

“I don’t have the authority to do that,” she told General District Judge Joseph Hess.

After hearing the evidence, Judge Hess certified the felony charge to the Staunton grand jury, which meets Jan. 16. _____ remains free on bond. ..Source..