Felony charges have been dropped against a North Carolina man who was beaten and threatened at gunpoint after a younger man found him in a bedroom with the younger man’s two small children.
Mark Anthony Stanley, 61, of Burlington, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in Spotsylvania Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Oct. 28 of two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and received a suspended sentence, The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg reported. Stanley had been charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and assault, NBC Washington reported.
Stanley said he took the deal because he wanted to put the case behind him. He had gone to Virginia to visit relatives.
Deputies responding to a 911 call on Dec. 29, 2019, found a beaten Stanley and an irate father. Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Liz Scott said deputies rescued the suspect from further injury. She said the father obtained a weapon and that deputies may have saved Stanley’s life.
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A photo of Stanley released by police showed him with a swollen face and black eye. Deputies said the injuries were "severe."
Stanley spent nearly two months in jail before being released on bond. Prosecutor Amanda Sweeney said she later realized that the case against Stanley was not what she was initially led to believe.
