CLARKSBURG — A Harrison County jury deliberated less than half an hour Tuesday before convicting a Wallace man of sex crimes.
Christopher L. Long, 32, was convicted of four counts in all after the presentation by Harrison County Assistant Prosecutor Traci Cook and Harrison Sheriff’s Sgt. R.G. Waybright II.
One of the charges — first-degree sexual assault — carries a sentence of at least 25 years in prison because of the victim’s age (she was under 10 years old at the time of the crimes).
Attorney Jerry Blair represented Long, who will be sentenced Dec. 5 by Harrison Chief Judge James A. Matish.
Also:
- Michael Woodrow Radcliff, 31, has waived his probable cause hearings in Harrison County Magistrate Court on charges of grand larceny, burglary and two counts of first-degree robbery, according to Assistant Prosecutor Laura Pickens.
Radcliff, charged with armed robbery in Harrison, Marion and Monongalia counties, and also facing charges in Lewis and Braxton counties and a parole violation allegation, remains jailed.
- Ronald E. Lowther, 31, of Buckhannon, has been charged with felony failure to comply with the state’s sex offender registry law by Senior Trooper V.J. Pyles.
Lowther was jailed on $95,000 bond after an initial appearance in Upshur County Magistrate Court.
Lowther is required to register for life after he was convicted in 2002 on two counts of third-degree sexual assault of a female juvenile, according to the registry.
- Timothy Lingo, 29, of Westover, has pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Lingo illegally possessed a Rock Island Armory Inc. .45-caliber handgun on April 9, 2011, in Morgantown, the government had alleged.
Lingo will be sentenced at a later date.
- Cassandra Marie Gawthrop, 29, of Clarksburg, has pleaded guilty to one count of felony third-offense shoplifting and one count of felony forgery of a document, according to Assistant Prosecutor Pickens.
Harrison Circuit Judge John Lewis Marks Jr. accepted the shoplifting plea, but took the forgery plea under advisement, Pickens said. Marks set another hearing Sept. 16.
Gawthrop remains behind bars on charges from Harrison, Monongalia and Marion counties, according to jail records.
- Nicholas C. Albergamo, 29, of Clarksburg, has waived his probable cause hearing before Harrison Magistrate Mark Gorby, according to Assistant Prosecutor Andrea Roberts.
Albergamo is accused by Clarksburg Police Detective P.D. Graeber of unlawfully entering Notre Dame High School.
Albergamo broke out a window near the gym and left a trail of blood drops, suffering cuts on his hands and knees, Graeber has alleged.
- Tiffany Mills has pleaded guilty to forgery of a credit card and been placed on two years’ probation by Judge Marks, according to Pickens.
Mills, with a minimal criminal history, was ordered to pay restitution.
- A grand larceny charge against Danny Ray Peck has been dismissed after the defendant spent more than 100 days in jail.
The charge was dismissed in Harrison County Magistrate Court in a way that it could be brought again.
However, Peck, 38, of Tornado, Kanawha County, was freed after a motion from Harrison Assistant Defender Perry Jones was granted.
Jones asserted the alleged victim and the “state’s complaining witness” failed to appear for a probable cause hearing Friday, and that the “matter has been pending since May.”
Peck had been accused by police of driving off from the Clarksburg Kohl’s with a shopping cart full of stolen merchandise.
- Richard Desist, alleged to have absconded on a misdemeanor false pretenses conviction in 2005, has been placed on probation for an extra two years, according to Harrison Assistant Prosecutor Rachel Romano.
Even though Desist turned himself in last month, Judge Marks handed down the sentence after it was alleged that Desist hasn’t paid on his restitution of about $4,000, Romano said. Also, the judge learned Desist hasn’t paid toward court costs and didn’t perform required community service, according to Romano.
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