Wythe man charged with sex crimes

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

A 28-year-old Ivanhoe man has been charged with six felonies as the result of sexual misconduct with a minor female, according to the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office. Stephen L. Crockett III faces two counts of rape, one count of animate object sexual penetration and three counts of permitting injury to a child while responsible for its care.
Chief Deputy Keith Dunagan said additional charges are expected as a result of the continuing investigation. No other details are being released at this time because of the age of the alleged victim, he stated.
Crockett is being held without bond in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin. He was arrested June 26.
In an unrelated case, the Sheriff’s Office is investigating the report of a theft of money and prescription drugs from a parked vehicle at a Fort Chiswell service station. A deputy interviewed the victim on June 29 at 2 p.m.
According to the victim, he had stopped at the BP station at Exit 80 to buy cigarettes. He told the deputy he left his window down and the vehicle unlocked.
When he returned to the vehicle a short time later, the man said he found his glove box open. He told the deputy he checked the compartment and discovered $84 in cash, 85 prescription Flexiril pills and 40 prescription Loratabs missing.
There are no suspects in the case, Dunagan said.
The Sheriff’s Office also is looking into a reported theft of 10 10-foot by 6-foot kennel fencing panels from a Speedwell residence. The incident was reported June 28 and is believed to have occurred between June 23 and June 28.
According to the victim’s daughter, the panels were located next to a wooden outbuilding across the road from the house on Lanter Road.
In another incident, a Rural Retreat pedestrian was hit June 27 by a motorist on West Lee Highway. Hilda Schwartz was transported to Smyth County Community Hospital with a possible broken femur in her right leg.
Dunagan said Schwartz was attempting to cross the highway and stepped into the path of an oncoming 2005 Hyundai Accent, operated by Mandy Rose of Rural Retreat. Evidence at the scene and witness accounts, the chief deputy noted, indicate Rose ran into a ditch in an attempt to avoid hitting Schwartz.
The victim’s husband told deputies he had yelled a warning to his wife about the approaching car, according to Dunagan. He informed officers his wife did not hear well.
Rose was not charged in the incident, Dunagan said.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .