Charlottesville General District Court Judge William G. Barkley heard a victim's testimony of her February rape in a preliminary court hearing Thursday. Barkley sent the case of accused defendant Michael Bryan Plum, 25, of Charlottesville to a grand jury, scheduled for April 16.
Police formally charged Plum with abduction with intent to defile, two counts of forcible sodomy, penetration with an inanimate object, robbery and malicious wounding. Plum is being held without bond.
Plum carried a bible with him as he entered the court in handcuffs and prison clothing alongside his attorney, public defender Jim Hingeley, but Plum did not offer testimony.
The 20-year-old woman identified Plum as the assailant and told her account of the Feb. 5 attack that occurred only two weeks after she moved to Charlottesville.
The victim testified she was on her way home from work to see her daughter and boyfriend when she encountered Plum shortly after 3:15 p.m. near the Salvation Army store on Cherry Avenue.
She said Plum followed her to Tonsler Park, and though she was aware of his presence, she said she was not scared of the man.
"I never had to worry about anything before," she said.
As they neared the Tonsler tennis courts, Plum allegedly grabbed her from behind by the waist. The woman said he pointed an object in her back, which she thought was a gun.
"He told me if I screamed that he would shoot me," she said.
The woman said he then led her down a hill toward the wooded area of the park, ordered her to lie down on her stomach, removed her pants and proceeded to sodomize her.
He allegedly dragged her by her pants into the woods and ordered the woman to give him oral sex. She then saw he did not have a gun, but rather a socket wrench, and she grabbed the wrench and beat her attacker with it. Plum then fled.
First police and rescue units arrived shortly thereafter, and the victim told police she had been raped. She was treated and released that day at University Hospital for head injuries and injuries resulting from the rape.
At approximately 4 p.m., Charlottesville Patrol Officer Ernie Johnston detained the suspect.
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