A candidate in last year's race for a Roanoke-area House of Delegates seat has been charged with multiple sex crimes.

Troy Bird was indicted by a grand jury in Roanoke Circuit Court on Monday on a total of seven charges that include sodomy, taking indecent liberties with a minor and aggravated sexual battery, according to online court records.

Bird, 27, was being held without bond in the city jail Tuesday night.

Bird ran as a Republican in November in an unsuccessful effort to remove Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, from his seat representing the 11th House District.

Ware won with 60 percent of the vote.

At the time, Bird was working as a freelance graphic artist. He ran a low-key campaign, describing himself as a fiscal and social conservative.

Bird acknowledged that he was a less-than-conventional Republican candidate -- at least in terms of appearance -- with his goatee, ponytail and tattoos. He said his unconventional style affected fundraising.

-- Laurence Hammack