VA man was out on bond when he sexually assaulted child with special needs
Northern Virginia man was out on bond when he sexually assaulted child with special needs
FOX 5 has learned that a man found guilty of child sex crimes in Louisa County is also facing similar charges in Northern Virginia. He was out on bond after being arrested for crimes allegedly committed between 2018 and 2020, when he assaulted a five-year-old girl with special needs in May 2023.
WASHINGTON - A man found guilty of child sex crimes in Louisa County is also facing similar charges in Northern Virginia.
FOX 5 is learning that 41-year-old Darius Jones, of Warrenton, was arrested for aggravated sexual battery, forcible sodomy and two counts of child pornography production for incidents that occurred between 2018 and 2020. He was arrested and released on bond in 2021.
About two years later, in May 2023, was when the Sheriff’s Office in Louisa County arrested Jones for forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery of a five-year-old child with special needs.
Officials say Jones' trailer was parked near the child’s home and inside the camper is where authorities say he sexually assaulted her.
The 5-year-old’s sister, who is just 9, helped save her sibling after walking in on the assault and immediately alerting her grandmother.
"Her 9-year-old sister happened to walk in during the act," Commonwealth’s Attorney of Louisa County Rusty McGuire said. "She was terrified to talk. She went and got granny. Granny came in there with a box cutter. Granny saved her granddaughter."
McGuire says cases where the victim is non-verbal can be challenging to prosecute but in this one, DNA and drawing from the 5-year-old victim helped get the conviction but added that "the part that broke everyone’s heart" was that Jones was out on bond for similar charges out of Prince William County.
"It’s always an unfortunate situation when somebody is released on bond and then goes on to commit other crimes," said Prince William County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth.
RELATED: Northern Virginia man convicted of sexually abusing child with special needs
She says her office tried to keep Jones behind bars.
"The prosecutors in my office were handling the case and the charges against Mr. Jones objected to bond, objected to his release, the judge granted that bond request over our objection," she explains.
Ashworth says these situations are always heartbreaking but also very rare.
"The judge makes the best decision that he or she can, based on that information. Nobody likes to hear that they were wrong. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect system and we have no way of knowing for sure what the right answer is," she adds.
Jones is currently being held at the Central Virginia Regional Jail awaiting his sentencing.
"Where we live here in Louisa, if you are charged with this type of offense, you do not get a bond because there is too big of a risk that you would do that again and that’s what happened in this case," McGuire told FOX 5. "We are going to seek a life sentence on June 26, 2024, which we think will be a just outcome. Not only did he sexually abuse a very young child, but one that has autism and can barely speak at all."
As for the status of the pending charges in Prince William County, Ashworth says the case will be set for trial and heard.