Augusta County man charged with sexually assaulting sex worker in Lynchburg
LYNCHBURG — An Augusta County man is behind bars after being accused of sexually assaulting a sex worker in Lynchburg.
On June 2, officers from the Lynchburg Police Department responded to Baymont Inn and Suites on Candlers Mountain Road on a report that a woman had been attacked at the hotel, according to an affidavit for a search warrant. Police found the woman suffering from multiple injuries, and she was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital for treatment.
Police said the woman was initially discovered on a hotel room floor.
Interviewed by police at the hospital, the woman said she met a man on a website where she advertises her sexual services. The woman said the man sent her a text message asking to meet, but said he was out of town and would take some time before arriving, the affidavit said.
When the man did arrive at the hotel, he began touching himself in a sexual manner and "asked for certain sexual acts," according to the affidavit. But after the woman said she wanted to discuss payment before consenting, police said the man began strangling her with both hands.
The woman, who had been fully clothed and wearing a purple wig, said she awoke naked as a hotel employee and another person were attempting to revive her.
Police checked the woman's phone and saw that she'd been communicating with a potential customer prior to the attack. A detective also reviewed surveillance footage from the immediate area of the hotel, which showed a man parking a black Toyota Tundra, then cutting through a business on foot as he went behind the hotel.
Police said the man attempted to cover his face as he passed by the camera. The same man was then seen running from the direction of the hotel back to the parked Toyota, the affidavit said, and leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed. Police said the surveillance footage lined up with the victim's timeline of events.
The Lynchburg Police Department contacted additional law enforcement agencies in an effort to locate the suspect's Toyota Tundra, the affidavit said. When a matching vehicle was discovered, the owner came back as Nathaniel Fuller, 37, of Churchville, who police said "strongly resembles the individual seen on surveillance footage," according to the affidavit.
On June 6, a Lynchburg police detective spoke with UPS employees on Lew Dewitt Boulevard in Waynesboro, where Fuller reportedly has a mailbox. Police said surveillance footage from the store showed Fuller had been there a day earlier, and they said he appeared to be the same person spotted by authorities in the Lynchburg footage before and after the sexual assault.
According to a Lynchburg Police Department media release, the Augusta County Sheriff's Office provided them with Fuller's Churchville address before Waynesboro officers arrested him June 11. He was held without bond at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona for three days until being transferred to Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Lynchburg.
Search warrants were obtained for a number of electronic devices, as well as Fuller's truck and other property. Police were also looking for strands of purple hair, according to the affidavit.
Fuller is charged with aggravated sexual battery and strangulation.
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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta County man charged with sexually assaulting sex worker
