Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 14, 1991 TAG: 9103140053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WOODSTOCK LENGTH: Medium
"I guess I deserve it," Goins said after pleading guilty to charges of rape, forcible sodomy and abduction. "I'm very sorry I did something like that. I don't know what happened."
Goins, 22, was sentenced to life plus 80 years in prison as part of a plea agreement. He will be eligible for parole in 15 years.
But Shenandoah County Circuit Judge Perry W. Sarver, who approved the plea agreement, said he hopes Goins is never paroled.
"This man has no business being back in society for a long, long time. As far as I'm concerned, life should mean life," Sarver said.
Goins was arrested Aug. 31 after police found the girl in the closet of a trailer in the Vickers section of Montgomery County, where Goins had been living. Her mouth had been taped shut and her hands were tied.
"It's hard to imagine how one human being could treat another human being like this . . .. It's beyond belief," Sarver said.
"I would have to say that these are some of the most wicked, vicious and atrocious acts I have ever seen."
Goins confessed to the crimes in statements to police shortly after his arrest, according to his court-appointed attorney, Jimmy Turk. "He swore in vivid detail what had taken place."
Both Turk and Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said they doubted Goins would ever be paroled.
"I'm as pleased as you could be under the circumstances," Turk said. "This would have been a difficult case to defend because of the strong emotional ties to the victim."
Keith called the plea agreement "fair and just."
Goins faced a maximum penalty of three life sentences plus 40 years in prison if his case had gone before a jury. He then would have been eligible for parole after 20 years.
"So we're talking about only a difference of five years in eligibility, and that didn't seem like much of a difference considering the time and expense that would have been involved in a jury trial," Keith said.
Montgomery County Sheriff Louis Barber added also that the plea was best for the girl and the girl's family because it would allow them to avoid the spotlight of a highly publicized trial.
Goins faced charges of rape, forcible sodomy, abduction and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Under terms of the plea agreement, the sexual battery charges were dropped and Goins pleaded guilty to the other three charges.
Sarver sentenced him to life in prison on the abduction charge and 40 years each for the rape and sodomy pleas. A petition circulated in Montgomery County had called for Goins to be castrated.
Dressed in a navy blue three-piece suit and pink tie, Goins repeatedly answered, "Yes sir," in response to a series of questions asked by the judge to determine whether he understood the charges against him and the terms of the plea agreement.
Sarver said that by pleading guilty, Goins would waive almost any right to an appeal of his sentence.
Wednesday's hearing was held in Shenandoah County Circuit Court because pretrial publicity had persuaded Montgomery County Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore to grant Goins a change of venue.
After the hearing, Goins was placed back in the custody of Barber until he can be transferred into the state prison system.
Barber said Goins has been kept away from the other prisoners at the Montgomery County Jail in Christiansburg for his own protection. Inmates there have been appalled by the case, he said.
by CNB