It was a warm day Friday, April 7, and Leon Mann was doing some yard work at his home in the Ashcroft subdivision east of Pantops, when he got a phone call. Removing his shoes to step inside his house, Mann picked up the phone and heard his next-door-neighbor’s frantic voice on the other end. Her two daughters, ages 11 and 13, were home alone; her youngest daughter had called to tell her there was a strange man in the house.
A retired Charlottesville police officer of 37 years, Mann didn’t hesitate before heading over to investigate. Mann opened the door and called the oldest daughter’s name, but the house was quiet. Then, he heard someone coming up from the basement.
 In recovery for almost two decades, Osborne made the mistake of his life when he went on a crack binge, broke into a home and terrorized two girls. |
It was 43-year-old Joseph Osborne, a recovering crack cocaine addict who had been clean for 16 years, but who that day had gone on a serious binge. Osborne was in the basement with the 13-year-old. He had gloves, rope and a toolbox that he had used to make himself look like a handyman and had talked his way in by asking the older daughter for a glass of water. Osborne attempted to sodomize the older girl while the younger sneaked away to call for help. After Mann interrupted the crime, Osborne struggled with Mann, then fled Albemarle County and Fluvanna police.
When they caught him, he was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit rape, attempted forcible sodomy and abduction with intent to defile.
Osborne left his crack pipe and jacket in the family’s basement.
From jail, Osborne told friends that he had almost no memory of the incident. Osborne pleaded guilty to the charges in August.
At his sentencing hearing December 5, the defense sought leniency. They argued that Osborne is a good guy, with no history of psychopathic behavior and no abnormal sexual tendencies, an addict who took his churchgoing and recovery seriously, who had become very depressed after losing his job. But Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Darby Lowe said Osborne is a sex offender who represents the community’s worst fears.
Judge Paul M. Peatross handed down an 80-year sentence, with 50 suspended. Barring the possibility of parole, Osborne will likely spend the next 30 years in prison.
