Onancock man given 61 years for violent 2022 crimes

By Linda Cicoira

A woman in her 50s suffering from Parkinson’s Disease was guided by a tall pole-like cane and helped to the witness stand by a victim’s advocate Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court. Her hands and arms shook from the chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement, balance, and other bodily functions.

She was at the sentencing hearing to tell Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. about the night in 2022 when she was attacked by 32-year-old fellow church member and construction worker Norris R. BeasleyII, of Onancock, at her Melfa home. Her name is being withheld because of the nature of the crimes.

Beasley entered Alford pleas to the charges of abduction, attempted forcible sodomy, and assault, which means he admitted Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan had ample evidence to convict him while he denied committing the crimes. Thursday, Beasley confessed to assaulting her but continued to deny abducting or attempting to sexually attack her.

Judge Lewis sentenced him to 19 years and nine months of active time in prison. Before suspended time was figured, Beasley was given 50 years for abduction, 10 years for attempted sodomy, and 12 months for misdemeanor assault and battery.

The victim said Beasley called her about 5:30 p.m. asking if he could come by “to talk to me for a minute.” She assumed he had church business on his mind. He arrived about an hour later. The two sat on a couch where she remembered telling him that she “was having a hard time with her Parkinson’s for the last week.” He asked for a glass of water, and twice, he asked to use her bathroom.

The second time he walked back out, the buckle of his pants was undone, she said. He started pacing. He wanted her to do something, hesitated, and then asked for oral sex. She made it clear she was not going to do that.

So, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her towards him, she said. He grabbed her shirt and pulled it off. She said she managed to get to her feet. He knocked her feet out from under her. He held his hand over her mouth trying to keep her quiet and continuing to force himself on her.

“He took fabric and quilt batting and stuffed it into my mouth,” she said. ” He went to close the blinds.” He locked her in the house, she said.

The victim managed to go out the door that led to a screened porch. She couldn’t get out but he was not able to get in. He tried coaxing her back inside. She saw a neighbor. “I was in such shock, I couldn’t call for help,” the woman said.

She said she promised him she wouldn’t tell anyone so he would leave.” When he finally did, she went inside, locked the doors, and called a friend. She was so scared at this point she said she was “carrying around a mini ball bat.”

After that, he called her seven times in 35 minutes. She blocked him but he managed to send her two text messages.

“The Parkinson’s has been epidemically worse since the assault,” she said. The treatment she had taken was no longer working, and her depression and anxiety had worsened, the woman said. She carries protection everywhere she goes. She’s afraid to walk her dog.

Morgan said the incident “seems to be softened when you read it on a piece of paper. It’s really a terrifying experience … this is a dangerous person… he’s proven that.”

Beasley apologized for the assault. “However, I did not hold her hostage and I did not try to sexually assault her.”  He said he pleaded guilty to avoid life in prison. He complained that there was no sign of a struggle, nothing knocked over, and the police were not the first people she called.

“The lack of this urgency suggests inconsistency,” he continued. “Nobody was killed. Nobody was raped. Nobody was injured. Nobody was robbed … I feel bad for assaulting this woman in her house.  I was not in my right mind… I feel terrible about the things (she) has suffered on my account…. the only thing I can do … is to stay clean.”

Then he boasted about helping convicted double murderer Gary Fleig and a man he described as a “gangbanger’ accept their savior. “I have been privileged to be part of the transformation. I can’t take it back I feel horrible. I hope (she) can forgive me. It is a mistake I paid deeply for. I lost my girlfriend of 10 years … my family believes I am a monster … I probably will never get to see my grandmother again. that’s what hurts me the most,” the defendant said as he started to cry.

“I hope it’s clear how remorseful I am. But that does not make me guilty of everything,” Beasley continued. He said he has a new family in Illinois. “After all this is over, I’ll never set foot in Virginia again. I am a changed man. I will be spreading the gospel to those who need it…

I forgive her for not forgiving me.”