Chilhowie mayor refutes rumors

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

Chilhowie Mayor Gary Heninger said he didn’t do it. Any of it.
That was his public response Thursday during the town’s council meeting to dispel rumors alleging all manner of indiscretions on his part.
During citizens’ time Heninger listed the rumors that said he resigned, was charged with driving under the influence, embezzled money from the town, was involved in the haunted house and sold drugs with the “old police department.”
That rumor refers to the troubles faced by former members of the town’s police department.
In May, former Police Chief Dwayne Sheffield and former police Sgt. Brian Doss were indicted on charges that stemmed from what Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation called “an encounter in October with the victim at a haunted house in Chilhowie.” The haunted house was a department-sponsored charity fundraiser.
Sheffield is charged with rape, object sexual penetration, felony child endangerment, sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and Doss is charged with forcible sodomy, felony child endangerment, sexual battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, court papers said. The indictments, filed in Smyth County Circuit Court, said the victim was “a female child, 17 years of age.”
Additionally, in a separate matter, a special grand jury indicted former Chilhowie police officer James E. Runyon in May for distribution of a schedule III controlled substance. He was released on a $1,500 bond.
An indictment does not address guilt or innocence but reflects only the grand jury’s belief that the charge merits prosecution.
As for the rumors, “I don’t know who started it but I’m going on record that they’re all lies,” Heninger said. “I’m not resigning and next May I intend to run for re-election.”