By Lindsey Nair

Archives Reprint

   Lindsey.Nair@roanoke.com

   981-3334

    Robert David Emery has been in jail for three months on a felony sex charge that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

    It is not surprising that his family believes the charge is unfair, but their reasoning is not typical. Emery may be a 22-year-old man on the outside, they say, but on the inside he is nothing but a little boy.

    "He is a 9-year-old in a man's body," said Emery's stepmother, Judy Emery.

    Virginia State Police arrested Emery on a forcible sodomy charge in March . According to a search warrant filed March 8 in Roanoke County Circuit Court, Emery was accused of forcing a fellow patient at Catawba State Hospital to perform oral sex on him.

    The 54-year-old woman said Emery entered her room and required her to perform the act, the warrant said. During the act, another man allegedly entered the room and witnessed it, causing Emery to offer both the witness and the victim $50 for their silence. No money was exchanged.

    The document also states that Emery had been accused of sexually harassing other female patients at the hospital, but no other charges have been filed.

    Emery's father, Ralph Emery, said the twisted path that led to his son's current predicament began more than 13 years ago, on March 30, 1991. David, as his family calls him, started that day as a happy 9-year-old, but a tragedy changed him.

    The boy was crossing Elm Avenue near the Interstate 581 overpass when he was struck by a car. His body was thrown onto the car's windshield, then over the roof.

    The child suffered a broken arm, a broken leg and a severe closed-head injury. He was in a comatose and semicomatose state for two months, then spent six months at the University of Virginia medical center learning to walk and talk again.

    Ralph Emery said that his son's accident left him mentally disabled and in need of constant supervision. Judy Emery said that her stepson currently has an IQ of just 69.

    Ever since he was released from UVa, David Emery has been in and out of mental health facilities. His father, who milked his insurance policy dry after his son's accident, said there is no good place for someone like David to live in Southwest Virginia.

    "You know, modern medicine today, they can save a life, bring a life back and say, 'Okay, he's not going to die,'" Ralph Emery said, "but there's no aftercare."

    After struggling in a special education program in the Roanoke school system and attending an expensive school in Richmond, Emery was sent to the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation at age 16. He stayed for two and a half years and "did excellent," his father said.

    But when he turned 22, David Emery was discharged to a retirement home in Florida. Twenty-four hours later, he had walked out and hopped a bus. It took him several days to find his way back to Roanoke, and when he arrived, he had not had the medication he needed.

    He was sent to Catawba State last winter, where he remained on lockdown on the second floor until his arrest, his father said.

    David Emery's attorney, Mac Doubles, said Wednesday that a court-appointed psychologist is evaluating his client to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. In Virginia, being "competent to stand trial" means simply that someone understands the charge against them and is able to assist their attorney in preparing a defense.

    The fact that Emery was institutionalized at Catawba in the first place raises questions about whether he is competent, the attorney said.

    According to Roanoke County prosecutor John Alexander, the decision to have Emery evaluated was made out of court and no trial date has been set pending the outcome of the evaluation.

    Doubles said he believes that the psychologist already has made a preliminary ruling that Emery is competent, but a full report has not been issued. Depending on the findings in the full report, Doubles may request that a second psychologist evaluate Emery.

    "This is not your typical sodomy case," Doubles said. "At the preliminary hearing, the victim said that they [she and Emery] had done this several times before. Mr. Emery may have thought it was OK."

    Doubles said he is not sure he believes that Emery has the mind of a 9-year-old.

    "I'm not sure he's that old, mental capacity-wise," he said.

    Several years ago, Ralph Emery turned over legal guardianship of his son to retired Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge G.O. Clemens. Clemens handles legal decisions for David Emery, but Ralph Emery remains involved.

    Clemens said he thinks that Emery will end up standing trial on the charge. But he also agrees that the man has the mind of a child.

    "The prognosis for his improvement is not good at all," Clemens said. "He has been through the Roanoke City School system. The Florida folks were trying to get him to a point where he could live independently, but I don't know when he will ever get to that point."

    Ralph and Judy Emery said they are sad and angry that David is in this position.

    "It's been a 12- or 13-year nightmare," Ralph Emery said. "It's frustrating because we know David's limitations, but we can't express it to the people who are out there. We know he is going to have these outbursts, that he's sexually immature.

    "He's 22 years old, he's got hormones coming out of his ears. What do you expect?"

Let any elected or appointed official know what you think and how you feel by CLICKING HERE.