
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 3, 1994                   TAG: 9408030068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WOULD-BE ABDUCTOR NOT GUILTY

A man accused of abducting two children from a Roanoke schoolyard, telling them he was Jesus and would take them to God, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

James W. Beane, 25, will be held at Central State Hospital until psychologists there determine he is no longer a threat to himself or others.

Beane, of Oakland Boulevard Northwest, entered an insanity plea to three abduction charges Monday. Earlier, psychologists for both the defense and prosecution determined Beane was insane at the time of the March 27 incidents and could not distinguish between right and wrong, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Greg Phillips said.

According to records filed in Roanoke Circuit Court, Beane approached two girls, ages 7 and 9, outside Addison Middle School on a Sunday afternoon, grabbed them and announced he was Jesus.

He then led the children away for a short distance, saying he wanted to save them from Satan by taking them to his father.

When an onlooker intervened, Beane fled and left the children unharmed.

A short time later, he approached an 11-year-old boy who was playing near 12th Street and Hanover Avenue. He grabbed the boy by the coat and said he was Jesus, police said at the time. The boy broke free and ran.

When police arrested Beane a short time later, he repeated his claims that he was Jesus and accused officers of being agents of Satan, according to court records.

A report prepared by Assistant Public Defender Marian Kelley noted other peculiar behavior by Beane. He claimed at his arraignment that Satan was in the courtroom; and when deputies in the jail gave him a paper gown to wear, he dipped it in the toilet and used it to scrub the bars of his cell.

After evaluating Beane, Roanoke psychologist Jerome Nichols determined that Beane was experiencing a psychotic disorder that involved delusional thinking and hallucinations. "His disorder impaired his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct," Nichols wrote.

Beane, who was working as a custodian at the time of his arrest, did not have a history of being treated for mental illness.

by CNB