Norfolk sex offender with earlier N.C. conviction on record gets geriatric parole

Gov. Abigail Spanberger's parole board has voted to release Selwyn Shawn Herring, convicted of object sexual penetration, burglary and robbery in Norfolk, according to the board's own August 2026 decisions report.

The board's August report lists Herring, 62, as granted geriatric parole, recorded Aug. 28 and certified Aug. 31. His Norfolk Circuit Court judgment, dated July 9, 2004, includes a life sentence for penetration with an inanimate object, two 20-year sentences for burglary with intent to commit murder, rape or a related felony, a 20-year sentence for burglary with intent to commit larceny or assault, five years for robbery and two years for attempted statutory burglary. The report estimates he has served 22 years and 22 days.

This newsroom did not find contemporaneous news coverage or a court opinion describing the facts of the 2004 Norfolk case. The account here is limited to the board's record and registry information. The victims are not named, consistent with this publication's policy on sexual offenses; the board's minutes say the victims in the case have all died.

The rest of the record: Sex-offender registry information republished by the site OffenderRadar, drawn from the North Carolina registry, lists a Selwyn Shawn Herring, with a birth date consistent with his age, as convicted on April 20, 1993, in Surry County, North Carolina, of attempted rape or attempted sex offense, with a 10-year sentence and release in 1998. That earlier conviction does not appear in the Virginia board's August report, and this newsroom has not yet confirmed it with North Carolina authorities. The 2004 Norfolk judgment itself covers six separate felony counts.

Why the board says he should go free: The board's listed reasons included excellent institutional adjustment, a stable release plan, significant community support, demonstrated rehabilitation, improved coping skills, infraction-free conduct since incarceration, participation in correctional and vocational programs, strong work performance, a low risk-assessment score, reduced risk factors, clear acceptance of responsibility, faith or community participation and no victim opposition.

The Aug. 27 minutes record a 5-0 vote. The board's Victim Services Team reported "that the victims in this case have all passed away." Board Member Kevin White said Herring had been infraction-free for 13 years, and Chair Shannon Dion added stable family relationships.

To be fair to the board, every reason quoted above comes from its own record, and members explained their votes on the record at the Aug. 27 meeting. The question for voters is whether those reasons outweigh what the court ordered and what victims told the board.

What the numbers say about Norfolk: Violent crime in Norfolk has improved over the past decade, according to the state's own figures. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, using Virginia State Police data, reported 389.7 violent index crimes per 100,000 residents in Norfolk in 2025, against 671.7 in 2016, down 42%. Property crime stood at 3,050.6 per 100,000 in 2025, down 24% from 4,011.4 in 2016. For comparison, the statewide violent crime rate was 210.5 per 100,000 in 2025, and the median Virginia locality came in at 172.9, according to the August 2026 DCJS report. DCJS cautions that the figures are subject to revision.

This is what Democratic control of the parole board looks like. Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, appointed every one of the five members who voted in August, replacing the board she inherited, and the Democratic-led General Assembly confirmed them in Senate Joint Resolution 209 in March. Her chair, Shannon Dion, was previously named director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. Board member Tyrone Nelson has run for the Henrico Board of Supervisors as a Democrat. Under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the board granted parole at a rate of about 1.6% in 2023, according to Bolts magazine. In August alone, Spanberger's board granted 14 of the 44 parole cases it decided, about 32%, according to its own monthly report. Statewide, a Washington Examiner analysis found Spanberger's board had a 13.89% release rate in 2026, more than 10 times the 1.23% rate under Youngkin's board in 2025, and WJLA 7News counted 48 grants in 205 discretionary and geriatric cases since May, about 23%. None of that means the governor personally ordered any individual release; the board votes, and the record shows how each member voted. But the governor picks the board, and the board answers to her: by law its members serve at the governor's pleasure.

Parole is not the end of a sentence. The board can revoke it, and in August it did revoke parole in three cases, while letting six other violators stay on the street. The board's report does not say when Herring will walk out or where he will live, questions Norfolk residents are entitled to ask.

Email the Norfolk Board/Council:
Kenneth Alexander, mayor@norfolk.gov,
Martin Thomas, martin.thomas@norfolk.gov,
Courtney Doyle, courtney.doyle@norfolk.gov,
Mamie Johnson, mamie.johnson@norfolk.gov,
John Paige, john.paige@norfolk.gov,
Thomas Smigiel, thomas.smigiel@norfolk.gov,
Jeremy McGee, jeremy.mcgee@norfolk.gov,
Carlos Clanton, carlos.clanton@norfolk.gov,

Norfolk is an independent city in Hampton Roads.