Belle Haven man gets three years for sexual battery of child

By Linda Cicoira

A Belle Haven man was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to three years of active time in prison for his decade-old crime of aggravated sexual battery of a six-year-old girl.

Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. gave 29-year-old Juan Antonio Granado, of Hood Lane, 10 years, with seven years of the term suspended. For five years after release, the defendant was ordered to be on supervised probation and good behavior. Granado must also register as a Tier III sex offender and seek mental health counseling.

The defendant admitted, “I did touch her that one time.”

The incident occurred in July of 2015, while Granado was watching the girl and her two younger sisters for a relative. She did tell anyone about it until she was 12 because she thought she would be in trouble.

Defense lawyer Richard Phillips said his client admitted what had happened when he was confronted. “He left his hand in an inappropriate spot after tickling her,” Phillips said. “There have been no repeats of this kind of behavior … it bothered him since it happened.”

“This is an awful, awful incident,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox. He explained that a plea agreement was reached, so the girl would not have to testify. The child told authorities that there was no tickling involved and that he was actively pursuing her.

Fox said he only owned up to what happened after he was given a polygraph test, and “it was determined that deception was indicated during some of his responses.”

Granada could have been sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and fined $100,000. He was born in Texas and moved with his family to the Eastern Shore of Virginia when he was four. The victim and her family no longer live in the area.

In another case, a $5,000 unsecured bond was granted for 48-year-old Charles Dise, of Main Ridge Road on Tangier, who was accused of assault and battery of emergency workers last January. He will not be released until Tuesday to allow pretrial services and CSB to make arrangements for supervision. Dise is accused of assaulting Michael Parks of the Tangier Fire Department and EMS responder Olivia Pruitt.

Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher Dale Beach, of Melfa, was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 18 months suspended for assaulting Investigator M. Taylor of the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office in January 2024. He will be on supervised probation for three years and good behavior for five years. Beach previously pleaded guilty to the crime.

Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Lee Padgett, of Holly Ridge Road in Melfa, pleaded guilty to counts of intentionally engaging in sexual behavior that posed a risk of transmitting a disease to another person in May and August. Sentencing was set for March 19. A presentence report was ordered.

Forty-four-year-old Mitchell Jay Hardstock Jr., of Oak Ridge Place on Chincoteague,

pleaded guilty to a third offense of DWI in 10 years. Hardstock was stopped by police after failing to obey a stop sign at the intersection of Ridge and Bunting roads. He tested at .11 grams per 210 liters of breath. The legal limit is .08. He was previously convicted of DWI in 2019 and 2022. Sentencing was set for April 16.