The trial began earlier this week for Jude Lovchik, charged with abduction and sodomy.
In 1995, four roommates in Reston were held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted. The case had gone cold until Lovchik’s ex-wife told Arlington County police that Lovchik had confessed the actions to her and had her recreate the scenes.
According to the Washington Post, the victims of the assault testified during the opening day of the trial. The women said their attacker had forced the women to perform sexual acts on each other and on him, then worked meticulously to cover his tracks.
One woman testified that she was made to drink Gatorade to remove the evidence from her mouth and that he vacuumed the bedroom where the assault occurred. After going through their address book, the women said the attacker also threatened to kill their friends and family if they reported the assault.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jessica Greis-Edwardson, who said DNA swabs from Lovchik matched biological material found in the mouth of one of the victims.
But Fairfax County Public Defender Dawn Butorac said the evidence tying Lovchik to the crime was flimsy, saying there were inconsistencies in the DNA evidence and noting that Lovchick’s ex-wife, who was in the middle of the divorce when she reported Lovchick’s confession, had motive to lie.
Lovchik faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges, including abduction and sodomy. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Photo via Marion County Jail
A man accused of a series of sexual assaults across Fairfax in the 90’s, including four women in Reston, is scheduled to go to trial this Monday (Dec. 3).
Jude Lovchik is charged with a series of felonies including multiple counts of abduction, sodomy, robbery and firearms offenses.
While Lovchik is being investigated for other assaults in Fairfax and Prince William counties, his charges stem from a 1995 assault where Lovchik is alleged to have climbed onto the balcony of an apartment building and subseqently tied up, blindfolded and sexually assaulted four roommates.
According to the Washington Post, the break in the cold case came when Lovchik’s wife went to the Arlington Police after she said Lovchik assaulted her during their divorce. She also told the police that Lovchik had told her about his string of assaults throughout Fairfax in the early 1990’s and had her recreate the sexual assault scenes for him. Police said Lovchik’s wife provided information about the case that had not been disclosed to the public.
After Lovchik’s wife spoke with the police in early 2017, his home was placed under surveilence until DNA was collected from trash that police say was connected to DNA collected from the Reston assault.
Lovchik moved to Florida in 2017, but was arrested in October and returned to Vriginia, where he is currently being housed in the Fairfax County jail.
Photo via Marion County Jail
A Reston basketball coach who pleaded no contest in June to sexually assaulting a minor, was sentenced in Loudoun County last week to 15 years in prison.
Marlow Mikassas Afshartous, 40, who also goes by the name Marlow Talley, was arrested Aug. 3, 2013, and charged with sexual assault and solicitation of child pornography.
Afshartous coached youth basketball for more than 12 years at Claude Moore Recreation Center in Sterling, the former Hoop Magic in Chantilly, and Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Afshartous in June 2013 and was able to arrest him with assistance from the Fairfax County Police Department.
According to previous court testimony, the abuse of a 12-year-old girl took place from April to November 2012 at three locations: Claude Moore Recreation Center; a church off Evergreen Mills Road; and in Fairfax County at an outdoor basketball court on Braddock Road.
The victim testified to police that Afshartous molested her on multiple occasions. Investigators also retrieved approximately 8,600 text and email messages between the vistim nd Afshartous.
In addition to the 15-year prison sentence, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge J. Howell Brown also gave Afshartous an indefinite probation sentence.
Once he’s released from prison, Afshartous must register as a sex offender and have no unsupervised contact with children.
Photo:Â Marlow Mikassas Afshartous/Courtesy Loudoun Commonwealth Attorney’s Office