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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994                   TAG: 9410270084
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE                                 LENGTH: Medium

4TH RAPE CHARGE NETS CONVICTION

Frank Eugene Beverly, who has been acquitted or received reduced sentences at least three times after being charged with rape, faces a possible life term after his conviction on a fourth rape charge.

Botetourt Circuit Judge George E. Honts III tried Beverly without a jury and delayed sentencing until Dec. 5, when a background report should be completed.

"This is the third time I have prosecuted Frank Beverly for rape," Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan said. "In each case, he set his victim up in a compromising situation, which allowed him to attack the credibility of the rape report."

The latest allegation came from a 46-year-old Clifton Forge woman, who said Beverly asked her for a ride to his parents' home in Iron Gate in May. The woman testified that Beverly directed her to a private road, where he grabbed her car keys and repeatedly raped her at knifepoint.

The woman had bruises on her face and neck from where Beverly slapped and choked her, Hagan said.

Beverly admitted having sex with the woman but said it was consensual.

The woman said she was able to flee when Beverly ordered her to change position in the car.

Hagan said Beverly left with the woman's car, which led him also to be convicted of the unauthorized use a vehicle. He could get another five years in prison on that conviction.

Witnesses who saw the woman after the rape testified that she was crying and fearful, Hagan said.

Friends of Beverly told Honts that Beverly had come by their house before dawn and said he was afraid he might be charged.

Witnesses testified that Beverly called sheriff's offices in Alleghany and Botetourt counties to see if he was wanted for rape. He gave friends a small, serrated kitchen knife that the woman said looked like the one used to attack her.

In 1984, Beverly pleaded guilty to assault and battery in Clifton Forge after being accused by an ex-girlfriend of dragging her into a thicket and raping her. He served eight months in jail.

In 1990, a woman Beverly met at a party said he drove her to Botetourt County, parked on the side of U.S. 220 and raped her seven or eight times. A judge acquitted Beverly after he testified that she had consented to sex.

In 1992, a female acquaintance accused Beverly of beating and raping her after they had smoked crack cocaine together in an abandoned trailer outside Iron Gate. Beverly pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of sexual battery and was ordered to serve six months in jail.

by CNB