Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505180032
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press STAFFORD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ronell Hill, 19, and Marsha L. English, 18, both of Stafford County, are charged in the May 9 attack. Police learned of the incident when a scanner tuned in a phone conversation between the alleged victim and English.
Police said Stafford Deputy Robin Perkins saw the girl walking home after the alleged attack, stopped to see if she was all right and drove her home. The girl said nothing to Perkins about the attack, they said.
The deputy suspected something was wrong, and her scanner later picked up a conversation between the girl and English. The girl complained to English and said she felt ``dirty,'' police said.
Perkins returned to the child's home and told her mother about the conversation, Stafford Detective Jeff DeBord said.
``I'm not sure [the victim] would have ever told anybody what had been done to her,'' he said. ``It was an incredibly fortunate break.''
DeBord said English and the girl had been friends. English called her on May 8 and encouraged her to sneak out of house to go riding, he said, while also repeatedly telling Hill he could have sex with the girl.
Hill had been out of jail for a month after serving more than a year on breaking and entering and grand larceny charges.
``She kept putting the thought in his head, and she arranged it,'' DeBord said. ``He acted it out.''
DeBord said he has investigated hundreds of sexual assault cases and knows of no others where a woman was charged with rape. By law, accomplices can be charged with the crime committed.
Both adults had been drinking heavily by the time they met up with the girl. After picking her up around 11:30 p.m., English drove to an apartment complex near some woods and went into someone's apartment, DeBord said.
Hill asked the girl to walk with him to a store while they waited for English, DeBord said. While walking through the woods, he asked the girl, ``Are you going to give me that thing?'' DeBord said. The girl said no, was knocked onto the ground and raped, DeBord said.
Hill later returned to the car, DeBord said, and exchanged a ``high five'' with English after she asked, ``Did you get it?''
DeBord said Hill and English talked to police about their roles in the incident. Both are free on bond.
by CNB