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Jurors can't agree on a sentence
Man guilty of having sex with a teenage runaway, but it couldn't decide on punishment.
Date published: 3/5/2009 BY KEITH EPPS A Stafford County jury was unable late Wednesday to agree on a prison term for a county man who had repeated sex with a runaway teenager who showed up at his home last year. Travis Austin Lutton, 24, was convicted of four counts of carnal knowledge with a child following a jury trial in Stafford Circuit Court. The jury could have recommended a sentence of between eight and 40 years, but was unable to do so. After 11 p.m., it was finally agreed that Judge Charles Sharp will sentence Lutton on May 1. According to the evidence presented by prosecutor Mark McDonald, Lutton took advantage of a troubled 14-year-old Northern Virginia girl he’d met on MySpace several months earlier. The girl’s troubles included being molested between the ages of 6 and 13 by a family friend. That man recently committed suicide after learning he was being investigated. On July 4, the girl testified that she was upset after learning that man was coming over. She asked Lutton to come get her, but he refused. So she took a taxi from Alexandria to Lutton’s home in Aquia Harbour. She hadn’t seen Lutton before. The girl then described a wild weekend that including drug use, drinking and multiple sex acts. She was taken into custody after an Aquia Harbour police officer caught her sneaking back into the subdivision and realized she was a runaway. Lutton didn’t testify at his trial, but he gave damaging evidence in an interview with Stafford Detective Tim Martin. Lutton denied having sexual intercourse with the child, but he admitted to a number of other sex acts, including using a condom-covered sex toy on the girl. McDonald asked the jury for a lengthy prison term. He said Lutton took an already “damaged” child and made her worse. The girl, now 15 and in foster care, said she tried to commit suicide a few weeks ago. She said she has nightmares and severe anger about Lutton’s actions with her. “I really did love him,” the sobbing victim said. “He gave me the happiest days. Now he gave me the worst.” Defense attorney Vanessa Jordan acknowledged that Lutton used poor judgement. But she said he shouldn’t take all the blame for the girl’s problems and pointed out that she showed up at his home uninvited. Lutton still has numerous charges pending in Stafford, including taking indecent liberties with a child and numerous counts of possessing child pornography. He has three more trials scheduled in Stafford Circuit Court, including two with juries. Keith Epps: 540/374-5404 kepps@freelancestar.com
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 3/5/2009
Never should have started
(posted by
Shawanga
, Mar. 6, 2009 1:58 am)
I drove cab for 25 years in Northern VA. If a young girl had gotten into my cab for a trip of that distance, I would have made some determinations. I would have made sure an adult was aware of this trip. Had the simplest of questions been asked, that child never would have left Northern Virginia.
USA is in a moral decline, too.
(posted by
MrZorro
, Mar. 5, 2009 11:35 pm)
This was not the first man the victim was after. According to the story she said she was "in love" with this new man. As we watch the economy collapse, the morality is also going out the window.
Vanessa Jordan you should be ashamed of
(posted by
lifeisbeautiful
, Mar. 5, 2009 9:58 pm)
yourself for those remarks. Are you
freakin kiddin me? Come on jury. It's a
no brainer. Creepy dirt bag = long
sentence.
What's to decide
(posted by
momto3
, Mar. 5, 2009 4:44 pm)
he needs to be punished for making CLEARLY WRONG AND UNLAWFUL CHOICES! Needs to learn a lesson! Jury, c'mon already!!!
What kind of a defense is this?
(posted by
Minx
, Mar. 5, 2009 3:22 pm)
She showed up at his house uninvited? So, that gave him permission to sexually abuse her and give her drugs and alcohol? What about being responsible and calling the police to let them know where she was? Or at a minimum, not letting her inside? 40 years isn't enough for him.
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