By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

A woman is accusing John Baron Royal III of raping her inside his home on Judes Ferry Road January 2.

According to testimony at a preliminary hearing, the victim had been in a relationship with Royal, 40, for about a month before the alleged assault.

But a witness for the defense claimed to have been inside Royal’s home the day of the alleged rape, and his account of events contradicted the victim’s testimony. 

Pointing to a lack of physical evidence or evidence of a struggle, defense attorney Rodney L. Jefferson said the “missing pieces of the Commonwealth’s case are filled in by a credible witness.”

But Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard Cox said the Commonwealth had met its burden of probable cause for a preliminary hearing.

District Court Judge Paul Cella ultimately agreed- based, he said, on the victim’s testimony- and he certified the case to a grand jury.

Royal is also charged with two counts of obtaining money by false pretense, four counts of forgery and making a false report to law enforcement. A preliminary hearing for those charges is scheduled for March 19 in Powhatan General District Court.