FRONT ROYAL -- A Warren County judge rejected a plea deal Monday for a man charged in an ATV crash that killed a girl and hurt a boy.

Jerrell Stanton Leadman Jr. appeared before Judge Daryl L. Funk in Warren County Circuit Court on two counts of felony child abuse resulting in serious injury.

Authorities accuse Leadman, 62, of the block of Whitney Lane, Bentonville, of driving an all-terrain vehicle that rolled over and crashed with his two grandchildren on board — Olivia Clatterbuck, 7, and Roman Clatterbuck, 4 — the night of Aug. 10, 2021. Emergency rescue workers who responded to the incident said the girl died at the scene when part of the vehicle landed on her head. The boy sustained injuries in the crash. Neither child wore a seatbelt or a helmet.

A plea agreement reached between Warren County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nicholas L. Manthos and Leadman’s defense counsel William A. “Beau” Bassler called for the court to defer the disposition for a year, during which time Leadman must remain on good behavior. If Leadman does not violate any laws, then the court would find him guilty of two misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Per the agreement, the court would sentence Leadman to 12-month jail sentences for each misdemeanor, with all time suspended, and place him on unsupervised probation. Parties reached the agreement ahead of Leadman’s trial on the felonies set for Jan. 24 and the court advanced the case on the docket for the plea hearing.

Funk rejected the plea deal.

“It’s either not criminal behavior and should not result in criminal prosecution or it’s criminal behavior, resulted in a loss of life, and should be punished accordingly and the plea agreement does not meet those circumstances,” Funk said.

The terms of the deal also would not fall within the sentencing guidelines that recommended Leadman serve some time in jail, Funk said.

On his arraignment for each charge earlier in the hearing, Leadman said,“I stipulate the evidence sufficient” — a statement a defendant may make, rather than a plea, if the court plans to defer disposition in a case.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney John S. Bell gave a synopsis of what the prosecution would have presented as evidence had the case gone to trial. Virginia state police Trooper Thomas W. Moade Jr. responded to the fatal ATV crash shortly after 7 p.m. Warren County Sheriff’s Office deputies secured the scene and turned the matter over to Moade. An emergency worker at the scene pronounced the girl dead, Bell said. Leadman identified himself to Moade as the driver of the ATV.

The trooper asked Leadman to explain what had happened. Leadman told the trooper that, while they were riding in the ATV, he tried to grab his granddaughter who was hanging out of the vehicle, Bell said, citing the police report. Leadman told the trooper the grass was wet and he lost control of the vehicle, which then rolled over on its side, Bell said.

The crash occurred at the lower part of a slope covered in wet grass, Bell said. None of the seatbelts in the ATV had been used and neither child had worn helmets or other protection, he said. Moade saw beer bottles at the scene, Bell said. Moade noticed that Leadman had watery, bloodshot eyes and slightly slurred speech, Bell said. Leadman told Moade he had three beers throughout the day and had started drinking a fourth before the crash, Bell said. Leadman consented to taking a preliminary breath test that showed a 0.1% blood alcohol content, Bell said. The trooper couldn’t conduct a field sobriety test because of the slick grass, so he placed Leadman under arrest and charged him with driving under the influence, he added.

A magistrate issued a search warrant to test Leadman’s blood for alcohol content. Moade said he smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Leadman as they went to the hospital for the blood test, Bell said. The Department of Forensic Science test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.048.

“At this point, the Commonwealth is in an unusual position,” Bell said. “Normally, the presumptions that come along with the blood work in favor of the Commonwealth. This is a situation where they work in favor of the defense.”

Virginia law presumes a person with a blood alcohol content of under 0.05% is not under the influence, Bell said.

“This is somewhat disturbing based on the original (preliminary breath test), but it is what it is,” Bell said.

Bell went on to say: “The Commonwealth’s position is that, even without the presumptions, the evidence of the consumption of alcohol together with taking the children unsecured on a slippery surface, with the children essentially being kids leaning out the vehicle, created an inherently unsafe situation, which placed the lives of both children at risk and, in fact, cost one child her life.”

In response to Bell’s presenting the synopsis, Bassler said that had the case gone to trial, the defense would argue that no law allows the admissibility of preliminary breath test results as evidence. The presumptions of sobriety or intoxication apply to blood tests for alcohol, he explained.

Prior to considering whether or not to accept the plea agreement, Funk allowed Jonathan Clatterbuck, the children’s father, to speak from the witness stand. Clatterbuck held up a photograph of his daughter.

“I just want to make sure you realize what I lost,” Clatterbuck said. “That was Olivia Grace Clatterbuck. Seven years old. She had no choice in the matter when she was taken out of this world.

“Not only that, me and her mother were robbed of proms, graduations and me walking that little girl down the aisle,” Clatterbuck said, his voice starting to shake.

Clatterbuck said he used to live in Warren County but left because people would harass him over wanting “to see justice for my daughter.” Clatterbuck said he also wants to see justice for his son, now 5 years old.

“No one else here has to hear or see or deal with the nightmares at two-to-three o’clock in the morning,” Clatterbuck said. “He lived it. He’s seen it. It’s all coming back.

“How do I explain (to my son) the man who took my daughter out of this world is not going to face justice?” Clatterbuck said.

Clatterbuck questioned the investigation into the crash and asked why authorities did not charge Leadman with involuntary manslaughter for his daughter’s death. Clatterbuck said Leadman should have known that the law requires children riding in the vehicle to wear helmets.