ROANOKE, Va. – A Covington man has been sentenced in connection with the sexual assault of a woman in Roanoke back in September 2021, according to the City of Roanoke Chief Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John M. McNeil Junior.
On September 5, 2021, officials said Anthony Texeira Jr. approached a woman as she was walking to a downtown bar just after midnight.
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We’re told Texeira forced the woman into a porta-john and sexually assaulted her, later taking her phone.
Texeira allegedly left the woman in the porta-john and she was able to alert a passing motorist who took her to the police department.
Police began investigating, found the crime scene on Franklin Road, and collected security video from nearby buildings, McNeil said.
The security video collected captured an image of the suspect, Texeira, and showed the attack as it occurred, according to city officials.
Days after the incident happened, officials said police used cell phone location data from the woman’s phone to track Texeira, who they found at his residence in Covington.
In addition, McNeil said that DNA evidence collected from the woman’s body definitively identified Texeira as the attacker.
Nearly two years later on August 2, Texeira pleaded no contest to the felonies of aggravated sexual battery and forcible sodomy, according to city officials. We’re told the trial was initially scheduled to begin on Sept. 5.
Per the terms of the plea agreement, Texeira was sentenced to 20 years suspended after serving 10 years for aggravated sexual battery, and 30 years suspended after serving 12 years for forcible sodomy, documents show.
There were three additional charges, but they were not prosecuted, according to McNeil.
The plea agreement was accepted, resulting in Texeira’s sentence of 50 years incarcerated, suspended after 22 years, officials said.
According to McNeil, the woman has been cooperative throughout the prosecution and is also supportive of the plea resolution.