THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290391
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 53 lines
An 18-year-old resident of the Pines Treatment Center was sentenced to eight months in jail Tuesday for assaulting his residential counselor.
General District Court Judge Archie Elliott Jr. sentenced Anthony Edwards to the jail term and ordered him to pay a $25 fine and court costs. Joyce Weddle, an assistant public defender representing Edwards, said she plans to appeal.
``I didn't think about it enough,'' Edwards told the judge Tuesday. ``I was in the wrong for what I did. It won't never happen again. You don't have to worry about that.''
The attack on former counselor Dana Lauren King, 22, occurred on Feb. 7.
Edwards came to the treatment center from Philadelphia through a social services referral. He had been a victim of child and sexual abuse and was being treated for exhibiting the traits of a child molester, according to testimony. He participated in the Pines' behavioral studies program for sex offenders.
John Hunter, clinical director of the program, on Tuesday asked the judge to suspend the sentence and allow Edwards to return to complete his treatment at the center.
But the judge told Hunter he was concerned that the court would lose control over Edwards if he went back to the center.
After the hearing, Hunter said he worried that Edwards would be abused in jail or become suicidal. He has been in jail about six weeks. Hunter also said during an interview after court that Edwards is at risk of molesting children if he is released to society without completing the Pines program.
``The way the ruling is,'' Hunter said, ``chances are funding will be terminated and he will not be eligible for re-funding in our program or any other program.''
Hunter estimated that Edwards' history puts him at a greater than 50 percent risk of molesting a child.
King, the former counselor who brought the charge against Edwards, said the attack occurred about 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 7. In an earlier hearing, she told the judge that she was sitting in a lounge supervising some youths when she heard Edwards say: ``I'm going to get you, bitch.''
``By the time I turned around and looked up,'' she said, ``his fist was in my forehead.''
She put her arm up to block the next blow and he hit her in the shoulder, she said. Another counselor heard the commotion and responded. All three then fell to the ground, and King struck her head.
King is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 117 pounds. Edwards is over 6 feet tall. King's injuries required ice packs and kept her out of work for three or four days, she said. King left the Pines to pursue other career interests.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT TEENAGER COUNSELOR by CNB