Waynesboro man charged in sexual assault of family member

The Waynesboro Police Department has charged a local man with multiple felonies after an he abducted, abused and sexually assaulted a family member Tuesday night.  Ronald Issiah Burton, 30 years old of no fixed address but formerly Waynesboro, is in custody and is accused of putting a 30-year-old Waynesboro woman through an eight hour ordeal of rape and assault at a residence in the 900 block of Shenandoah Avenue.

Burton, who is homeless, had been staying with the victim and her two children at the Shenandoah Avenue address.  In the evening of May 12, Burton and the victim got into an argument that got violent.  He assaulted her and kept her from leaving the apartment.  When Burton was momentarily distracted, the victim fled the apartment around midnight on May 13 and was walking on Shenandoah Avenue near North Delphine Avenue when Burton, operating the victim’s car, drove up to her, punched her and pulled her by the hair into the vehicle.  He took her back to the apartment and pulled her inside by the hair.  During the next several hours, he raped and sodomized her.  Also, he wrapped a bed sheet around her neck and began strangling her with it until she nearly lost consciousness.  He also did this with his hands.  One of the children was present in the apartment but sleeping while the attack was going on.  The other child was staying at a relative’s house.

On Wednesday morning, Burton told the victim to give him a ride to his workplace in Charlottesville.  When they got in the Charlottesville city limits, Burton supposedly got nervous and got out of the vehicle when it stopped.  When he tried to reach back inside the car to take the victim’s phone, she sped off.  The victim was able to wave down a Charlottesville Police Officer on Main Street and informed him of the assault.  The Charlottesville Police Department then contacted the Waynesboro Police Department who sent two detectives to investigate.  The victim was taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center for treatment.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. yesterday, officers with the Charlottesville Police Department and Waynesboro Police Department arrested Burton at the Charlottesville Police Department, where he agreed to meet with detectives.  He was arrested on the following charges:

• Abduction;
• Rape;
• 2 counts Forcible Sodomy;
• Strangulation.

He is being held without bond at Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail awaiting transfer to Middle River Regional Jail.