Lovingston
Nelson County, Virginia
As BRL first told you Tuesday night in this post below, former Nelson County Emergency Services Coordinator, Ray Uttaro, has been convicted by a jury on 18 counts of sexual crimes against a minor.
Nelson County Commonwealth Attorney Daniel Rutherford confirmed the convictions Tuesday evening after the jury deliberation that only lasted a few hours before coming back with the unanimous verdict.
Rutherford’s office made this formal release on the trial.
“Uttaro was convicted in a jury trial that spanned two days. The jury found Uttaro guilty of four counts of aggravated sexual battery of a minor; four counts of distributing oxycodone to a minor; four counts of sodomy of a minor; two counts of object sexual penetration
of a minor; two counts of carnal knowledge of a minor; one count of abduction
with intent to defile a child under the age of 16; and one count of sexual battery of
a minor. These crimes occurred while the victim was 11 through 15 years old.
“My office shall vigorously prosecute every sexual offense of a minor. I am
grateful for the dedication of my Victim’s Witness Advocate, Beth Phelps, and for
the hard work of Sheriff Mark Embrey and the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.
Most important, it took a tremendous courage on behalf of the victim to come
forward and testify before the jury.”
You may remember Uttaro was embroiled in another scrape with the law back in 2011 where he accused of stealing a TV donated to the county. He eventually plead guilty to misdemeanor embezzlement in March 2012 while employed with the county.
Ray Uttaro will face sentencing on August 8, 2024 for the most recent convictions on Tuesday. When we asked CA Rutherford what the sentencing range might be he said “The maximum possible sentence is life in prison. I want to be clear that any crimes such as these against a child, I will always seek the maximum sentencing possible.”
