Click on headline to recommend this story | 
asterisk denotes breaking news
*Edinburg man pleads to taking indecent liberties with child
|
|
By Preston Knight -- pknight@nvdaily.com
(11:40 a.m.) WOODSTOCK -- An Edinburg man must register as a sex offender for taking indecent liberties with a child.
That result for the case against Jimmy L. Conner, 34, of 110 Printz St., who was originally charged with attempted rape and malicious wounding, was what the victim's family wanted in Shenandoah County Circuit Court Wednesday morning. Conner had been scheduled to go on trial for the two charges, but instead an amended plea agreement left him with convictions for indecent liberties and assault and battery.
Conner went into the bedroom of a 16-year-old family friend around 12:50 a.m. on March 22 and laid down next to her, stating, "Just let it happen," numerous times, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ken Alger said. It would have been diffucult, however, to get a jury to unanimously agree that "it" meant sex, he said, and a struggle that ensued led to bruising for the victim that was gone two days later, making the malicious wounding seem to be an "overcharge."
Instead, the family wanted Conner registered as a sex offender. After Judge Dennis L. Hupp rejected the original plea agreement Wednesday because, for one reason, it asked for the malicious wounding charge to be dropped instead of amended to a lesser charge, he accepted the amended agreement. The defendant pleaded guilty to assault and battery through an Alford plea, in which he doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction.
The agreement calls for Conner to serve 30 days in jail for the assault and five years in prison, with all but one month suspended, for the sex act. For the family, though, incarceration wasn't the most important thing.
"If she has to pay for the rest of her life, we wish for the public that he pays for the rest of his life," the victim's mother said in court.
For further developments, visit nvdaily.com or read the print edition of The Northern Virginia Daily.
I think that if in fact he did impose himself on the girl, AND if was unwanted, the family should've stuck to their original charges that were being sought out to begin with. They are right in saying this will stick with her for the rest of her life, and just listing him on the internet with the rest of the creeps that do or try this sort of thing isn't harsh enough of a punishment to keep him or anybody else from doing/trying this ever again.