A 35-year-old Virginia man was sentenced Wednesday to five mandatory life sentences and an additional 100 years in prison after he was convicted of four counts of rape of a child, among other charges.
Raymond Harry, Jr., was pulled over on Oct. 9, 2018, while carrying a large amount of methamphetamine, which police believed he intended to sell or distribute. Harry was taken to jail, where he called his sister and asked her to go to his recreational vehicle (RV) and delete the data stored on his phones and email accounts.
Instead, his sister checked his devices and found videos and images of Harry sexually abusing a child. She called their father and reported what she had found. The father then alerted the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office.
But by the time his father alerted authorities, Harry had already made bail on the drug charges and moved his RV to Louisa County.
On Dec. 1, 2018, a detective from the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office and a detective from Middlesex County specializing in internet crimes against children executed a search warrant on Harry’s RV with the assistance of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office.
That morning around 8 a.m. police found and rescued the child victim. Officers also detained Harry, who was carrying a pistol and a cell phone in his coat pocket. Detectives searched his RV and found cell phones, digital media storage devices, drugs and drug paraphernalia in what was described as “a den of hell.”
A review of the digital storage devices showed “horrific rape and sexual abuse photos and videos.” Some of the videos showed Harry dosing the child with methamphetamine and other drugs before rapes. Detectives were able to ID Harry from his distinctive tattoos, which police say cover him almost head to toe.
Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire called it “one of the vilest and most disgusting cases” he’s seen in 20 years on the job.
“The defendant stole the child’s innocence and we are happy the court appropriately sentenced the thief,” McGuire said in a press release.
Harry was released from prison for a violent felony two years ago and returned to Spotsylvania, where he had access to the child. Harry groomed the child for a year prior to his arrest.
Harry was scheduled for a trial by jury, but pled guilty at the last minute instead.
The news release mentions bills on the 2020 General Assembly agenda which would reinstitute parole and expressed the Louisa Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office’s hope that “those who debate these issues will look at facts like those in this case and decide whether predators like the defendant should be eligible for parole.”
Virginia abolished discretionary parole in 1995. Senate Joint Resolution No. 9 aims to review the effectiveness of abolishing discretionary parole in the commonwealth when compared to similar states that have kept the program.
