Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
Billy Joe Hampton, 36, of Christiansburg, Va., was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of aggravated sexual assault at the New River Gorge National River Park, U.S. Attorney Rebecca Betts said Wednesday.
If convicted, he could face life in prison and a $250,000 fine, she said.
Federal sexual assault cases are unusual. Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ellis said he could not remember another case in the Southern District of West Virginia.
In May, Hampton was indicted by a Raleigh County grand jury on charges of first-degree sexual assault, abduction and grand larceny in the same incident. He is accused of abducting the woman in a Wal-Mart parking lot, driving her to the park in Summers County in February 1994 and sexually assaulting her, Betts said.
The day after the rape, Hampton allegedly returned to Virginia, hit an 81-year-old garage owner over the head and stole about $500 from him, police said.
Later that day, police say, he hijacked a 77-year-old Maryland woman's car at a rest area off Interstate 81 in Virginia.
In March 1994, Hampton abducted a 62-year-old woman from a Wal-Mart in Greensboro, N.C. He was sentenced in July 1994 to 30 years in prison.
Hampton is awaiting trial on the charges in Virginia, after which he will be extradited to West Virginia to face the state charges, authorities said.
Hampton was released on parole in April 1992 after serving part of a 30-year prison sentence for the fatal beating of a 95-year-old Virginia woman in 1976. He was 16 at the time.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.