Doe v. Virginia Department of State Police

A Virginia criminal statute forbids carnal knowledge of a child thirteen or fourteen years old, “without the use of force” on the part of the offender. See Va.Code § 18.2-63. Not long ago, we determined that this statutory offense is not, for federal sentencing purposes, a violent felony. See United States v. Thornton, 554 F.3d 443 (4th Cir.2009). Jane Doe was convicted of the offense in 1993, for which she was actually incarcerated a grand total of thirty days. Fifteen years later, in 2008, without further wrongdoing on her part, the Commonwealth statutorily reclassified Ms. Doe’s 1993…