FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 3, 2015
Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176-2809
(703) 777-0242
MAN SENTENCED FOR EXPOSING HIMSELF AT LEESBURG RECREATION CENTER
HALL TO SERVE TWO YEARS
LEESBURG, Virginia – July 30, 2015. John Gordon Hall, 43, appeared before the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, for sentencing on one count of taking indecent liberties with a minor. Judge Stephen E. Sincavage imposed two years in the Virginia Department of Corrections.
On the afternoon of February 2, 2014, Hall exposed his genitals to three 9-year-old girls in the Ida Lee Park and Recreation Center pool. The girls immediately reported the incident to a parent who was with them at the time. The girls described Hall as smiling “like the Cheshire cat” or the “Elf on a Shelf” while staring at them and exposing himself. A member of the Ida Lee staff approached Hall and asked for his name. Hall identified himself as “John Matthews.” Staff subsequently confirmed his name as “John Hall” through membership records and contacted law enforcement.
Hall entered an Alford plea of guilty to one count of taking indecent liberties with a minor on
March 16, 2015.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy McMullen, who prosecuted the case, presented evidence at the sentencing hearing of Hall’s prior criminal record which included a 2004 conviction for indecent exposure in Loudoun County General District Court. McMullen asked the Court to impose a sentence in excess of the high end of the recommended Virginia Sentencing Guidelines. “All three victims have experienced increased anxiety around men fitting Hall’s description, difficulty concentrating, and anxiety going to public parks and in recreation settings,” said McMullen.
Before imposing sentence Judge Sincavage noted his reason for exceeding the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines was due to Hall’s prior criminal record and the impact on the juvenile victims. “You’ve had a terrible impact on people in this community,” said Sincavage. “The longer you are incapacitated by incarceration, no other child will be victimized.”
“Even when parents are present and vigilant, opportunistic predators such as Hall will continue to act on their compulsions,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Plowman. “These young ladies did exactly the right thing in immediately seeking out a parent and are the sole reason we were able to remove Hall from the community and stem any future threats to children.”
Hall received an additional five years of suspended time on the indecent liberties offense and additional six month active sentence for failing to appear. Upon his release, Hall will be placed on five years of supervised probation,
Pursuant to Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry Act, Hall will also be required to register as a sex offender. Information about the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and those on it can be found on the Virginia State Police website: http://sex-offender.vsp.virginia.gov.
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