THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 29, 1994 TAG: 9407290574
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
A former Currituck County man has been sentenced to life imprisonment, plus six years, for sexually assaulting two boys last summer.
A Currituck County jury on Wednesday found Cary Clifford Lowder, 37, guilty of first-degree statutory sexual offense and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
The statutory sexual offense crime carries a mandatory life sentence. Superior Court Judge Gary Trawick gave Lowder six years for the indecent liberties convictions, which will run after the life sentence expires, said Samantha Edwards, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case.
A member of the state parole board said Lowder would be eligible for parole in about 20 years, Edwards said.
Lowder, who worked as an electrician with the Virginia Beach school system's maintenance department, had lived in the Gibbs Woods area several months when the crimes occurred.
``The neighborhood kids loved to go over to ride his three-wheelers,'' Edwards said.
The first offense took place in May 1993, when a neighborhood boy went searching for his friends at Lowder's house. After not finding them, the boy turned to leave and was approached by Lowder, who then fondled him.
The second instance occurred July 4, 1993, and involved a boy who was visiting relatives in Lowder's neighborhood. The boy had been riding Lowder's all-terrain vehicle and went inside Lowder's home to wash up when he was molested and later sodomized, Edwards said.
Both victims were around 10 years old, she said.
The trial began Monday afternoon at the Currituck County Courthouse and concluded Wednesday. The jury, made up equally of six men and six women, deliberated 15 minutes before returning with a guilty verdict.
Lowder, who had returned to Virginia Beach after his arrest, was taken into custody and then transported to the Department of Corrections in Raleigh, a Currituck jail spokesman said Thursday.
KEYWORDS: CHILD MOLESTATION SEX CRIME TRIAL
by CNB