Goochland County School Resource Officer charged with assault and rape
Goochland County VA November 21 2018
A Goochland County sheriff’s deputy who had been working as a school resource officer was arrested Monday and charged with assaulting his wife and raping another female, according to the authorities and court documents.
Powhatan County deputies responded about 5:30 a.m. to the 1000 block of Huguenot Trail in Powhatan for a report of a domestic dispute, sheriff’s Capt. Jeffery S. Searfoss said in a news release.
After further investigation, the sheriff’s office charged Jason Avery Anderson, 47, with misdemeanor assault of his wife.
In addition, Anderson was charged with raping a separate female.
“The Goochland County Sheriff’s Office was notified of his arrest shortly thereafter and immediately began a concurrent investigation, which resulted in Anderson’s termination,” Searfoss said.
In a separate news release, Goochland Sheriff James Agnew said, “We are all disturbed, disgusted and angry after hearing about Anderson’s actions. We are in full support of the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office investigation into these charges.”
Agnew confirmed that Anderson was fired early Monday after his arrest. The sheriff said Anderson was hired in summer 2014 and had worked as a school resource officer for the past three months at Goochland Middle School.
According to a criminal complaint filed with Anderson’s arrest warrants, Powhatan 1st Sgt. Michael Wentworth said Anderson’s wife sent him a text message Monday at 4 a.m. requesting assistance with her husband.
As Wentworth was conducting his investigation, an allegation was made that Anderson had sexually abused a separate female.
After Wentworth responded to the home, Anderson’s wife told him that her husband had pinned her down Thursday “and told her she needed to be [a] submissive wife.” She then pointed out cut marks on her wrist “that were caused by the attack,” the complaint said.
Anderson is being held without bond and is to be arraigned Wednesday in Powhatan Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.
After Anderson’s arrest, Goochland Superintendent Jeremy Raley sent out a memo to staff members and parents saying that Anderson had been serving as the middle school’s school resource officer.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff has been, and will continue to be, a priority for me and our school division,” Raley wrote. “Based on the information that we have received, we have no reason to believe that any of our students in Goochland County Public Schools were involved in the incident that led to Mr. Anderson’s arrest.
“Our School Resource Officers are employed by the Goochland Sheriff’s Office and operate in our schools as important partners as a part of our overall safety and security initiatives,” he added. “Our school division will work in collaboration with the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office to find a replacement SRO for Goochland Middle School. In the interim, our division’s School Security Officer, Mr. Shawn Schwartz, will have an increased presence on the middle school side of our secondary complex.”
Richmond.com
