Ashby v. Commonwealth

The indictment in this case charged George Stanley Ashby with a crime against nature (sodomy) in violation of Code § 18.1-212, in that Ashby submitted to one William’s having carnal knowledge of him by William’s mouth.

At Ashby’s trial William testified that he and his friend James, each nine years old, were in Ashby’s house at the time of the alleged offense. William testified: “he [Ashby] pulled down his pants, and told me to ‘put my mouth on his privates’, and so we [William and James] did it—and then, I heard my father on the front porch and I ran out.” On cross-examination William was…