Adult Daughter Recants, Says Father Never Raped Her; The Virginia AG argues that the life sentence should stand

The life sentence a Virginia father was serving was based on a heinous crime – raping and sexually abusing his young daughter with the help of his wife and allowing other adults to do the same.

Alfred “Rick” Alessi was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years in October 2016 after a Louisa County jury found him guilty of two counts of rape and aggravated sexual assault of his daughter when she was in the first and second grades . Alessi’s then 14-year-old daughter appeared as an important witness for the prosecution during the trial and described the abuse.

Vanessa Alessi, now 21, says the crimes against her never happened.

Rick Alessi’s lawyers have filed a motion seeking a declaration of factual innocence with the Virginia Court of Appeals, including a three-page affidavit from Vanessa Alessi in which she admitted she was on the witness stand during her father’s trial.

“I have regretted my actions since it happened. “I have decided to come forward now and tell the truth because I feel great guilt and regret having lied about my father and mother sexually abusing me,” wrote Vanessa Alessi in her signed on July 11, 2022 affidavit.

“I feel terrible that my father was sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit,” she wrote.

Shortly after Rick Alessi’s conviction, Vanessa’s mother Maria was acquitted in a jury trial by the same judge who oversaw her father’s jury trial.

WTOP typically does not publish the names of sexual abuse victims unless they wish to be identified. However, given her recent public affidavit that she was never a victim and her current status as an adult, WTOP is releasing her name.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, sexual assault, including child sexual abuse, is the second most common wrongful conviction crime after homicide.

Years later, the daughter recanted her statement against her father and mother

When she was 14 years old, Vanessa Alessi testified about sexual abuse by her parents. She said they undressed her on several occasions, sexually abused her and allowed other adults to abuse her.

In her 2022 affidavit, Vanessa Alessi said that at the age of eight, due to financial difficulties and other personal problems with her parents, she began living with her father’s brother and his then-wife.

Shortly after she moved in, she said her aunt came in and saw her and her younger sister playing with dolls.

“She thought we were acting out of turn. After this incident, she continually asked us if we had been sexually abused by our mother and father,” Vanessa Alessi said in the affidavit. She said her aunt never seemed to like her father.

“Their constant questions felt like encouragement to lie and say I was abused. I believed that was what she wanted from me,” Vanessa Alessi wrote in her affidavit.

She added that she used the false allegations of abuse to manipulate her aunt.

“It was an apology for my bad behavior. I knew I wouldn’t get in trouble if I did something wrong, but I said it was because of the abuse.

When she was a young girl, Vanessa Alessi also lied to her therapist because her psychiatrist often spoke to her aunt.

“If defense attorneys for my father, mother, or anyone else connected to the case had contacted me before, during, or after the trial, I would have lied to them,” she wrote. “I would not have informed them that what I said was false.”

Vanessa Alessi said she voluntarily met with her father’s lawyers, Doug Ramseur and Emilee Manzi Hasbrouck, in April 2022 to tell them her statement was untrue and to see what could be done to change the outcome to correct.

“I’m coming forward because I want to do the right thing,” she wrote.

Virginia attorney general says daughter was forced to recant

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office argues that the conviction should stand and the appeals court’s request to have Rick Alessi declared innocent should be dismissed.

“This actual innocence case, brought by a man convicted of raping and molesting his daughter, is based solely on an alleged recantation written for his daughter by the convicted rapist’s lawyers,” wrote Special Assistant to the Attorney General Brandon Wrobleski.

In its partially redacted motion to dismiss filed in December 2023, the Attorney General’s Office argued that Rick Alessi’s attorneys had not met the elements necessary for a court to find that a convicted defendant was innocent.

“The alleged retraction was not just written by plaintiff’s attorneys – it was the result of plaintiff’s years of begging and coaxing to persuade his relatives to speak to and care for his victim,” the plaintiff’s motion states Attorney General.

Wrobleski writes that the daughter’s admission in 2022 is nothing new – she testified in many details in the trial against her father. “Evidence that existed prior to plaintiff’s conviction and was part of the trial is not new.”

Additionally, Wrobleski said that the fact that Maria Alessi was found not guilty by the same judge who oversaw the jury trial of Rick Alessi “should not be considered ‘evidence’ in this case.”

The attorney general’s filing said Vanessa Alessi’s recantation did not change whether Rick Alessi was guilty: “A rational review of the facts would resentence the plaintiff.” “The Commonwealth’s new evidence establishes the credibility of Vanessa’s years-long accounts of the plaintiff’s sexual abuse,” the attorney general’s office said.

Father asks for an evidentiary hearing, but AG says this is not warranted

Rick Alessi’s lawyers argue that a judge, not the attorney general, should decide the credibility of Vanessa Alessi’s retraction.

“Instead of acting as Attorney General to ensure that one of the citizens (of the Commonwealth) has not been wrongfully sentenced to life in prison, the Attorney General is attempting to prevent a meaningful investigation into this matter by making these valid arguments about a disloyal application of the law,” wrote Ramseur and Hasbrouck.

The attorney general’s office said Vanessa Alessi’s affidavit came after repeated contact from her father and that she was trained. Rick Alessi’s lawyers said many of the attorney general’s contact allegations were inadmissible. And while prosecutors claim he sent his daughter 12 emails, only two mention her testimony in court.

“There was no attempt to force Vanessa to lie. He asked her to tell the truth. “No threats or promises were made,” said Rick Alessi’s defense attorneys.

“Based on the Attorney General’s interpretation of these statements, Tim Robbins of The Shawshank Redemption and Dr. Richard Kimball of The Fugitive villains because they maintain their innocence and hope that one day they will be exonerated,” Ramseur and Hasbrouck wrote.

It is unclear whether the appeals court will schedule oral arguments in which Rick Alessi’s attorneys would ask that the case be sent back to district court for evidence. Then a judge would examine the credibility of Vanessa Alessi’s revocation. The Attorney General would argue that the petition should be dismissed without a hearing.

Should that evidentiary hearing take place, the Louisa County Circuit Court judge would make findings of fact and refer them to the appeals court, which would decide whether to grant or deny Rick Alessi’s request for a declaration of innocence.

Contacted by WTOP, Rick Alessi’s attorney Ramseur said, “We call on the state of Virginia to help right this wrong.” An innocent man is sentenced to die in prison and a young woman tries to make amends for her childish mistakes. Each one of them suffers as this injustice continues.”

Vanessa Alessi’s attorney, Miriam Airington-Fisher, told WTOP in a statement:

“Vanessa was a child when the case was prosecuted and now she is an adult. She stands by her affidavit and will continue to tell the truth throughout the trial. We hope that ultimately all parties can agree that bringing justice to this family is more important than maintaining a conviction.”

Chloe Smith, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, told WTOP, “Due to ongoing litigation, we have no comment.”

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