ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030074
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A Montgomery County grand jury indicted a Blacksburg businessman Monday on two counts of sexual abuse in connection with incidents the alleged victim says happened 20 years ago when he was a teen-ager.
The indictments of Steve Critchfield, president of Tele-Works Inc., a communications company, come six weeks after a judge dismissed the same charges after a preliminary hearing. The charges were dismissed because of a lack of exact dates of the alleged abuse, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Peggy Frank.
The alleged victim, who is not being named by the newspaper, said he was 14 when the abuse began, Frank said. He is now in his 30s.
Frank said Critchfield, who is 39 now, was a volunteer in Radford's former Community Help and Involvement for Progress program. That later merged with Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Blacksburg in 1980 to become Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the New River Valley Inc.
Critchfield said Tuesday neither he nor his attorney knew the commonwealth's attorney's office would seek direct indictments after the case was dismissed.
"This comes as a surprise to me because the judge heard the testimony and threw it out," Critchfield said. "I would like to tell you many facts, but unfortunately my attorney is out of town and I don't want to say anything until I talk to him."
The abuse began a couple of months after Critchfield became the boy's big brother, Frank said. The victim testified before the grand jury Monday and it certified the abuse charges.
Frank said the victim has been in counseling since he was 16 years old and recently decided to press charges at the encouragement of a therapist.
In other Montgomery County indictments:
* William Thomas Redd Jr., 18, of Giles County and Maurice Stewart, 19, of Christiansburg, were both indicted for robbery in connection with a Nov. 11, 1995, assault on Toms Creek Road.
Blacksburg police said that at about 4 a.m. three men - one a Virginia Tech student - were walking on Toms Creek Road when three teens approached them and one asked for money. When one man said he had some money, but then said he did not, he was attacked and robbed.
Redd was found guilty in General District Court of attempt to use a credit card for fraud. He was fined $250 and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days. The original credit-card theft charge was dismissed.
Charges against the third man, 18-year-old Abdul Christopher Briggs of Shawsville, were resolved in General District Court. He was found guilty of assault and battery, fined $250 and sentenced to eight months in jail with four months suspended. He was also found guilty of another assault charge, for which he was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
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