ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605130034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A 79-year-old Blacksburg man, arrested last month on three stalking charges after repeatedly offering rides to elementary school girls, has been released from jail to a nursing home.
Charles Yonker was released last week on a $5,000 secured bond to Abingdon Manor in Abingdon.
Ellett Valley residents complained to authorities when Yonker cruised the Misty Hills Circle area near Blacksburg Country Club, the Ellett Valley Food Time and a church on Lusters Gate Road talking to elementary school-age girls and watching them with binoculars.
Montgomery County sheriff's deputies hand-delivered two warning letters to Yonker stating that if he did not stop the activity, he would "be charged for any and all laws you have violated."
Despite the warnings, Yonker continued following a school bus from Margaret Beeks Elementary School in Blacksburg into the Ellett Valley where some of the children live.
He was arrested April 9 on a charge of stalking and released on $5,000 bond. A week later, deputies arrested Yonker again, this time on two charges of stalking. He was held without bond until last week.
Yonker's attorney, Henry Whitehurst, described his client after the second arrest as "a lonesome 79-year-old man who lacks common sense."
Now, Whitehurst has worked out a release that put Yonker in an adult home and grounded him.
Yonker can not drive any vehicle and gave his driver's license to the administrator of the home when he arrived, according to Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith.
A first offense of stalking is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Keith said the $5,000 bond was "substantial" for a misdemeanor charge.
A second conviction, still a misdemeanor, raises the penalty to up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500. A third conviction is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The trial for the three stalking charges was set for Thursday, but Whitehurst said it was postponed and a new date has not been set.
Until the trial, Yonker will remain at the adult home, Keith said.
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