DATE: Wednesday, October 1, 1997            TAG: 9710010478

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   60 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** Defense attorney William P. ``Billy'' Robinson's name was incomplete in a story Wednesday about his client, a former youth counselor cleared of sex charges. Correction published Thursday, October 2, 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** FORMER YOUTH COUNSELOR CLEARED OF SEX CHARGES

Lionell Spruill Jr. was acquitted in Circuit Court Tuesday of charges that he had sex with a teen-age girl under his supervision at a center for troubled youths.

A jury found him not guilty on two counts of consensual sodomy and one count of indecent liberties with a minor.

The charges stemmed from an alleged incident on June 22, 1996, when Spruill was a part-time counselor at the Barry Robinson Center, which houses and counsels troubled youths.

According to testimony during the two-day trial, Spruill, his accuser and another girl were en route to the Greyhound bus station to pick up another student from the center. When that student's bus was late, Spruill and the girls parked at the former Howard Johnson's hotel in the 700 block of Monticello Ave.

The accuser, who is now 18, testified that when she went to a restroom inside the hotel, Spruill followed her inside and began to kiss and fondle her. He then led her into a stall and had sex with her, she testified. No one else was in the bathroom, she testified.

Spruill, 31, was not charged until about a month later. The woman, who now lives in Washington, D.C., testified that she did not resist because she was scared and because she thought Spruill cared for her.

Testifying Tuesday morning, Spruill vehemently denied having sex with the girl.

``That did not happen at any time,'' he said. ``Ever.''

The woman testified that she told only her roommate from the center what had happened. Police and Child Protective Services were not contacted until nearly a month after she said the incident had occurred. It was not clear who contacted them. As a result, no physical evidence - such as fingerprints or clothing - was collected by police that could have indicated that sex took place.

Spruill was originally charged with rape and two counts of forcible sodomy, in addition to indecent liberties, but the charges were reduced during the first day of the trial.

Spruill, a Chesapeake resident and son of Chesapeake Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., was suspended from the center. He no longer works there.

The jury deliberated for an hour before coming back with the not-guilty verdict. The woman, sitting with her parents, remained straight-faced while Judge William Rutherford read the verdicts. Spruill, flanked by his family and character witnesses, hugged Robinson and cried.

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