Lynchburg man convicted of sexually abusing woman in 2019

The district attorney in Lynchburg announced that a man was convicted on May 29 of serious crimes including penetration with an object.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) – The Lynchburg District Attorney announced that a man was convicted on May 29 of serious crimes including penetration with an object.

According to the prosecutor, Richard Elton Whitted was sentenced to 40 years in prison, 30 of which will be suspended, subject to 24 months of probation and 40 years of good behavior.

Whitted was found guilty by a jury on January 24, 2024, after a two-day trial for an incident that occurred in October 2019. According to court records, a lawsuit was filed on the morning of October 27 alleging that Whitted sexually assaulted a woman at a party. DNA samples taken later in the investigation matched Whitted.

On Wednesday, June 12, Whitted requested to remain in custody on bail while his attorney appealed his conviction, but that request was denied by Lynchburg District Court Judge F. Patrick Yeatts.

Whitted is currently being held at the Lynchburg Adult Detention Center at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail. He will be transferred to the Virginia Department of Corrections and is registered as a sex offender with the Virginia Sex Offender Registry.