Virginia parole board may review attacker in solved 1992 rape case, survivor says

Right · 2A woman identified only as Amy, who was raped in Norfolk, Virginia, on Valentine's Day 1992, says she received an automated VINE text message saying the Virginia Parole Board planned to review the case of her attacker for possible release. 1 2 Right · 1The cold case was solved last year when DNA evidence linked the crime to Anthony Favors, 57. In September 2025 he took a plea deal on two counts of rape, down from six indictments that included abduction and burglary, and received 24 years in prison. 1 Right · 1Norfolk Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. ordered 12 years for each count, to run consecutively. 2

Right · 1Favors was already serving a 60-year sentence for a separate March 1992 rape when a 2024 DNA hit linked him to Amy's case. Because his offences predate 1 January 1995, Virginia's old sentencing laws allow the parole board to consider him for release. 2 Right · 1Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi told Fox News Digital that Favors will likely have a "discretionary parole hearing" within the next few months. He attributed it to a bureaucratic overlap: the board had previously considered Favors for release on the earlier rape conviction without granting it, which legally opened the door to a review. 1 Right · 1Fatehi said the chance of actually releasing Favors is "slim chance to zero" and that Favors is "theoretically eligible". 2

Right · 1Amy, an active-duty Navy sailor at the time, says Favors beat and assaulted her for hours at her apartment, and she reported to her shift on a Navy ship straight afterwards. She now lives with severe PTSD, chronic sleep deprivation and hypervigilance, and says nobody has yet told her how Favors is eligible for parole. 2 Right · 1Heather Keeley, director of the advocacy group Stand Tall, said a 24-year sentence would not make him eligible for parole until 12 years in, and questioned how a parole board referral could come less than six months after sentencing. She argued that the process expands survivors' trauma by forcing them to relive it. 2 Right · 1Amy plans to address the board and ask for a three-year deferral so she is not made to relive the attack every year. She says she fears the case will damage trust in the system and discourage other survivors from reporting. 2

Right · 1The parole board does not publicly list its full hearing schedule but posts monthly decisions online. Favors' defence attorney had not responded to a request for comment, and Fox News Digital said it asked Gov. Abigail Spanberger's office for comment. 2