Courts and Crime

A discussion of a state statute cropped up once again during John Edward Pressley’s sentencing hearing in Bedford County Circuit Court, Friday. The 25-year-old Martinsville man entered four no contest pleas to computer solicitation of a child less than 15 years old at a hearing in August. The charges stemmed from conversations Pressley had on the computer between May 6, 2009, and June 3, 2009, with a Bedford County Sheriff’s Office undercover officer that Pressley believed was a 13-year-old girl.

A Thaxton man whose doublewide was once home to 90 cats and dogs will get three of his animals back.

Judge Kenneth Farrar certified an aggravated malicious wounding charge against a Bedford County woman to the November grand jury.

    Kristina Pongracz was 28 when she was accused on May 4 of beating William Herchenrider, her 77-year-old boyfriend, with whom she lived.  Herchenrider died on August 25 after briefly returning home. According to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Ayers, Herchenrider was under hospice care when he came home.

Three people charged with killing Sean Peter Placko late this winter and dumping his body in the James River faced a preliminary hearing in Bedford County General District Court, Monday. Although the murder allegedly occurred in Augusta County, Bedford County has claimed jurisdiction because the body was found near the Snowden Bridge in Bedford County.