Republican Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment is facing re-election this November, (VA has off-year elections), and what he’s done in just the past few years is nothing short of despicable.
Ask anyone in Virginia what priorities the state legislature should focus on, and I challenge you to find one person who would say that the state’s child porn punishment is too harsh. Yet with Senate Bill 1560, that is exactly what Tommy Norment tried to “fix.” The bill would have cut the maximum from 30 years down to 20, and the minimum from five to two years.
The big question everyone asked was…. Why? Who the hell asked for that?
Norment said it was “brought to my attention” by Commonwealth Attorneys—yet that seems odd since they were very vocal against it. Louisa County C.A. Rusty McGuire was absolutely livid about it:
I think sometimes the public thinks child pornography is pictures of babies in bathtubs.That's not what we're talking about. We're talking bondage, sadomasochism in horrible crimes committed to children.This is something I absolutely would not want.Virginia's known as one of the best states at protecting children from exploitation and so we're at where it should be and we should not go backwards.
Some tried to justify Norment’s position by saying he just hated mandatory minimum laws; but why, then, didn’t he seek to reform all mandatory minimums in Virginia? Norment dug his hole deeper when he seemed to imply that he was just looking out for people other than the victim’s families:
There are some victims out there and some families of victims who think that when a sexual offense is committed or you have a violent sexual predator they should be locked up for life and then you've got other people who believe more in grace and redemption.
Victims, huh?
So, to be clear, you support harsh penalties for those who rent out their properties online, but think the perpetrators of this heinous crime need "grace and redemption"?
None of this made any sense.
Then Blue Virginia pointed out something that happened prior to his bill, in what I’m certain was a completely unrelated story:
A former chairman of the James City County Republican Committee appeared in federal court Wednesday after he was arrested and charged with receiving child pornography, according to United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia records.Charles K. Young, 69, is accused of receiving three videos and seven photos between Feb. 4, 2014, and July 27, 2014, that depict young boys under 18 engaged in sexually explicit behavior, according to court records.
Interesting, no?
An advocacy group to protect children said this bill “came out of nowhere” and put out a statement that also helped shed light on this:
The National Association to Protect Children has serious concerns about Senator Norment's bill. It appears to benefit his sex offender clients, but not the children he has a duty to protect across the commonwealth as Senate Majority Leader.
Norment is a practicing attorney who was part of a legal team arguing for a lenient sentence for former Virginia Tech professor Arthur William Jones, who was convicted of multiple sex crimes with a minor. To be fair, any defense attorney who defends you should always try to fight for a reduced sentence. What is not okay, however, is if you base legislation on helping out particular friends and clients.
Tommy Norment would tell you he did no such thing. He would tell you he is an honorable man.
So let’s unpack that. Here’s what Mr. Norment has been up to the past few years:
- There’s his personal relationship to a registered lobbyist while married. It’s important to note that this didn’t violate state ethics rules...which Norment helped craft.
- Two words: Ashley Madison
- There’s the $160,000 he was paid by William & Mary to serve as both legal adviser and part-time law professor—while he was also pushing for millions of dollars in appropriations
- Speaking of William & Mary, his former students say his class was overtly racist
- After negative coverage, he banished press from the Senate floor
- And yes, of course, there’s blackface controversy:
And just in case you needed more evidence of how awful Tommy is…
His opponent in the race is Herb Jones, a retired Colonel and disabled veteran who spent decades in the Infantry, including several tours in Iraq. He was picked to advocate for disabled veterans on the Virginia Military Advisory Council---that is until Tommy Norment stripped his appointment because he had the audacity to run against him.
Jones is challenging Norment, and their resumes couldn’t be more different. Jones left active duty to start a career in finance and investments with Edward Jones, Signet Financial Services, Bank of America, and Colonial Downs. He served three terms as County Treasurer for New Kent while still serving in the US Army Reserves. He served in the federal government as a operations officer in Afghanistan and currently runs a successful cloud-computing company.
I lived in James City County when Tommy Norment became a state legislator in the early 90s. He faced an uphill battle because our Democratic representative at that time was a long-term incumbent. Nonetheless, our rep made an ultra-stupid, flip comment about tougher DUI legislation. Norment was able to build his entire campaign around that remark and won.
(Ironic that Norment would later be arrested himself for drunk driving. He is also well-known as the go-to DUI guy for well-connected clients.)
Now, it’s Norment who is the long-term incumbent, and he’s done a whole lot worse than make a flip comment.
There’s just not enough space to dedicate on all the ways Norment has hurt Virginia, and his myriad of ethical scandals I would argue has masked the reality that he is a terrible legislator. Yet we have a dream candidate in Herb Jones. We also only need this one victory in the VA Senate to flip it Democratic---and just two victories in the House of Delegates.
Unlike Florida, Virginia has rarely let me down in a big election. It elected Doug Wilder, our first black governor, back in 1989. It defeated Oliver North in 1994 for Senate. It went for Obama twice and picked Hillary over Trump in 2016. I wrote last year about how far Virginia has come… so I ask Virginians, please--— step up one more time. I’m asking you to go just a little bit further. Do you want a continued embarrassment to serve as your Senate Majority Leader? Or do you want a return to dignified, competent leaders who will look out for all Virginians, not just lobbyists and child pornographers?
Let’s help make this happen:
The former chair of the James City County Republican Committee will spend over six years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography earlier this year.
Charles K. Young, 69, appeared in federal court Monday morning for sentencing after the Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered over 600 images and 385 videos of child pornography from Young’s electronic devices, according to documents filed in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia.
He was sentenced to 74 months in prison.
“A minimal period of incarceration is sufficient to allow this elderly, hardworking man to return to/continue being a productive, contributing member of the community after his period of incarceration,” court documents filed by Young’s attorney Tim Clancy state.
After his release from prison, Young will be on supervised probation for life, register as a sex offender and participate in sex offender treatment, documents state.
He is also prohibited from using any sex-related internet or phone services, and may not possess any child pornography.
Young was arrested Nov. 16 at his Williamsburg home and charged with ten counts of possession of child pornography, nine of which were dropped when he entered a plea agreement Jan. 31, documents state.
According to the statement of facts, Jared Young, Charles Young’s son, provided enough information to allow police to obtain a search warrant for Charles Young’s home on Aug. 18. There, detectives seized a number of electronic devices. A forensic examiner later found more than 22,000 images of child pornography on the devices.
“This has been difficult for my family, and an incredibly difficult for me as I had to make the tough call to turn my Father in to the police,” Jared Young wrote in a statement to WYDaily in December. “My family initiated this investigation, and has fully cooperated with Law Enforcement to hold my Father to Account. The public safety and trust has always been our number one priority, even at the painful cost of my Father’s freedom.
On June 27, Judge Robert Doumar circulated an order stating he was considering deviating downward from the recommended sentencing guidelines. Doumar said the guidelines did not take into account Young’s history, characteristics and the nature and circumstance of his offense.
Possession of child pornography carries a minimum sentence of five years and maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing guidelines recommended 121-151 months, or about ten to 12 years in prison for Young’s offense.
Court documents filed by Clancy detail the 69-year-old’s life, including his military service in the Navy and his family life. In the documents, Clancy also asked for a shorter sentence than sentencing guidelines recommend.
Young’s wife, Sandra, is a member of the Williamsburg-James City County School Board. She was elected in November 2015, just one month before the family says they discovered Young’s pornography.
“Young’s family was aware he was possessing child pornography,” documents state. “… One of Young’s sons attempted to assist his father in locating mental health treatment; however, the Youngs were repeatedly advised that due to the nature of Young’s conduct the potential providers would have to report him to law enforcement and that the individuals in the potential providers’ programs had already been through court proceedings and sentenced.”
Following Young’s arrest, members of the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools community called for Young’s wife’s resignation. Young had previously taken her husband to school events and received a School Board stipend for internet at their home, School Board Chair Kyra Cook said.
She declined to resign, stating publicly at the Dec. 13 School Board meeting that she had done nothing wrong.
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
Fearing may be reached at sarah.f@localvoicemedia.com.
