ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A Roanoke man, already facing 20 years in prison for two convictions of sexually abusing a child, received an additional 28 years in prison Wednesday for similar offenses.
Dallas Morton, 42, who was living in Shawsville at the time of the incidents, was convicted July 31 of eight charges.
Jimmy Turk, Morton's attorney, said Wednesday his client "testified that he was sorry for what he had done to the victims and that he wanted to get some help for his problems."
Turk said Morton told Judge Kenneth Devore "he didn't want to die in prison and thought he could be a productive member of society if he got some help."
Several of the victims were in court Wednesday to hear Morton's sentence.
"They just want to make sure he's in there [prison[ for the rest of his life," said Peggy Frank, assistant commonwealth's attorney.
"The only difference is he now admits he has a problem and needs help. ... Until he gets some significant help ... he will always need to be supervised around children."
Some of Morton's victims still have nightmares because of their experiences and some are in counseling, Frank said. "It's just something they've got to live with for the rest of their lives."
Devore found Morton guilty in July of five charges of aggravated sexual battery and three charges of making indecent proposals to youths under 13.
Those convictions came after three victims testified Morton sexually assaulted them as they spent the night with him at a Shawsville motel in 1994. Two of those boys had been befriended by Morton, who took them to races and fishing. An 11-year old victim testified he had been sexually abused while Morton baby-sat him and his brother. Their mother was attending a funeral in Georgia at the time.
A fourth boy, 12 at the time he was molested in 1992, testified Morton held a knife to his side while fondling him and threatened him harm if he told anyone.
The 28 years imposed by Devore on Wednesday will be consecutive to a 20-year prison sentence Morton received earlier this year after a jury found him guilty of two charges of aggravated sexual battery. A 9-year-old testified in January that Morton molested him. Morton has dropped an appeal of the 20-year sentence.
Morton's sentences fall under the old, less strict parole guidelines because the offenses were committed before new, tougher parole rules that require defendants to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
But the victims' families and the commonwealth's attorney's office hope that Morton will still serve the bulk of his sentence, especially because he has a history of sexual abuse convictions. Morton was found guilty of two other aggravated sexual assault charges in Roanoke in 1988.
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