Sean Dominic Brady-Ramsey admitted that the commonwealth's attorney has enough evidence to convict him for the sexual assault of a Vienna juvenile.
"I believe that is possible," said Brady-Ramsey, 33, who entered an Alford plea during a hearing that lasted less than 25 minutes in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Friday, June 10.
Brady-Ramsey was arrested Dec. 23, 2004, following a sexual assault and burglary that took place in a Vienna family's home.
The 14-year-old victim's family was set to take a trip to Costa Rica the next morning, when the mother heard her daughter scream multiple times, according to Julie Mitchell, assistant commonwealth's attorney.
According to court documents, the mother rushed to her daughter's bedroom at 1:50 a.m., to find a white male fleeing. She was pushed down by the suspect but was able to look at him and identify his jeans, jacket and hat, according to Mitchell. She later discovered that $4,100 in $100 bills was taken from her purse, which she had set on the kitchen table with three passports and her cell phone.
The culprit entered the house by cutting a basement screen window with a box cutter and forcing the glass window open, Mitchell said.
Soon after, police searched Brady-Ramsey's home nearby, and found $4,100 in $100 bills in a tool box in his home, the charred remains of a cell phone in the fireplace, and clothing similar to what the victim and her mother described the attacker as wearing. Police also found a box-cutter, according to Mitchell.
No positive DNA evidence was found, but the mother and daughter's descriptions to police matched Brady-Ramsey, according to Mitchell.
BRADY-RAMSEY, represented by T. Scott Brisendine, agreed to enter the Alford plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors that he will be sentenced to no more than 25 years.
Sentencing guidelines, according to Mitchell and Brisendine, range from 13 years and three months to 56 years and 10 months.
A defendant who enters an Alford plea admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict, without admitting guilt. The court may then impose a sentence as if the defendant had been convicted of the crime.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors will nolle prosse — not prosecute at this time — three other charges of burglary, abduction and grand larceny, all associated with the case.
Judge Leslie M. Alden did not make a ruling on whether she will accept Brady-Ramsey's Alford plea, and she said she will wait until she receives a pre-sentencing report.
Brady-Ramsey is currently scheduled to be sentenced in September.