Two members said no, but Spanberger's board paroles Albemarle man who abused a 13-year-old in 3-2 vote

Gov. Abigail Spanberger's parole board has voted to release Oscar Robert Lemen, convicted of forcible sodomy and object sexual penetration of a 13-year-old in Albemarle County, according to the board's own August 2026 decisions report.

The board's August report lists Lemen, 67, as granted geriatric parole, with the decision recorded and certified Aug. 31. Minutes say he was considered for discretionary parole and geriatric conditional release. His Albemarle Circuit Court judgment, dated Aug. 13, 2008, shows forcible sodomy with 15 years, five suspended, and object sexual penetration with 20 years, five suspended. The report estimates he has served 18 years, 8 months and 21 days.

A December 2009 memorandum opinion of the Court of Appeals of Virginia describes the case. Lemen was charged in October 2006 with 18 counts, all involving one victim, a 13-year-old girl who was a friend of his daughter. A first trial in March 2007 ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a verdict. Prosecutors then dropped 16 counts and retried him in 2008 on one count each of forcible sodomy and object sexual penetration. According to the opinion, the victim testified that the abuse occurred when she was 13 and that Lemen warned her not to tell anyone. The jury convicted him and set a 35-year sentence, and the appeals court affirmed. This publication does not name the victim.

The rest of the record: No other convictions appear in the board's August report.

Why the board says he should go free: The board's listed reasons included a reduction in changeable risk factors, positive staff reports, no history of substance abuse, a stable release plan, excellent institutional adjustment, the board's conclusion that he has served enough time, institutional leadership roles, a low risk-assessment score, participation with the victim's family in a victim-offender dialogue program, infraction-free conduct since incarceration, a documented support network, the prosecuting attorney's support, rule adherence and stable family relationships.

This was one of two split decisions in August. According to the Aug. 27 minutes, Victim Services Coordinator Cindy Yadav read a statement on the victim's behalf; the minutes do not characterize its position. The vote was 3-2. Chair Shannon Dion voted to grant, saying the prosecuting attorney "strongly supports release." Board Member Valerie Boykin cited his service making thousands of masks during the pandemic for the Department of Juvenile Justice. Board Member Tyrone Nelson voted no, saying release "would diminish the seriousness of the crime," and Vice Chair Kecia Brothers Hayes voted no, saying he needs more treatment programming.

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 Albemarle County: Violent crime in Albemarle County 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 83.7 violent index crimes per 100,000 residents in Albemarle County in 2025, against 88.3 in 2016, down 5%. Property crime stood at 1,177.6 per 100,000 in 2025, down 5% from 1,243.6 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 Lemen will walk out or where he will live, questions Albemarle County residents are entitled to ask.

Email the Albemarle County Board/Council:
Ned Gallaway, ngallaway@albemarle.org,
Fred Missel, fmissel2@albemarle.org,
Sally Duncan, sduncan@albemarle.org,
Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, bkirtley@albemarle.org,
Mike Pruitt, mpruitt@albemarle.org,
Ann Mallek, amallek@albemarle.org,

Albemarle County is a county in Central Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, an independent city.

Email the Albemarle County Board/Council:
Ned Gallaway, ngallaway@albemarle.org,
Fred Missel, fmissel2@albemarle.org,
Sally Duncan, sduncan@albemarle.org,
Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, bkirtley@albemarle.org,
Mike Pruitt, mpruitt@albemarle.org,
Ann Mallek, amallek@albemarle.org,