Child molester found dead in prison
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Richard A. Ausley
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RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A man convicted of burying a 13-year-old boy in a box and sexually molesting him for more than a week was found dead in a cell he shared with another inmate, the state Department of Corrections said Wednesday.
"This looks suspicious and we are investigating," department spokesman Larry Traylor said. He said he could not elaborate.
Paul Martin Andrews, who was buried and sexually assaulted by Richard A. Ausley more than 30 years ago, said the state attorney general's office informed him Ausley was strangled in his cell.
"I'm shocked," said Andrews, now in his 40s and a computer technician in Miami. "This is not what I wanted for him. I don't hate Richard Ausley."
In a statement, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore said his office would investigate the death of Ausley, 64.
"Richard Ausley's crimes were properly handled by the Commonwealth, and he deserved to be kept away from society for the rest of his life," Kilgore said. "However, we have a legal system for a reason, and we cannot condone the circumstances of his death."
Traylor said Ausley died late Tuesday at the state prison in Waverly, where he had been transferred in November. Both Ausley and his cellmate were in the cell at the time, he said.
Ausley was sentenced to more than 47 years in prison in 1973 for abducting Andrews, burying him in a box in a wooded area and repeatedly molesting him. Andrews eventually was rescued by rabbit hunters.
Ausley had been scheduled for release from prison last November, but five years were added to his sentence in August after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting another teenager in 1972.
That victim, now in his 40s, has said he stepped forward after hearing about Ausley's scheduled release.
Ausley also had been convicted in 1961 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy and leaving him tied up in the woods. He was sentenced to 26 years but was released on parole in November 1971.
Ausley's impending release prompted legislators to approve funding last year for a civil commitment program for sexual predators, which allows authorities to hold offenders indefinitely in a secure treatment center after their prison terms end.
Kilgore's office had filed papers to have Ausley committed after his release.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
