INSIDE Goochland History: His descendants would help keep residents healthy > page 2
Volume 66 Number 7 • February 17, 2022
New Zealand man sentenced in case involving Goochland girl By Roslyn Ryan Editor
Despite testimony that outlined a traumatic childhood and years of abuse, as well as an official report describing him as a “model inmate and an example to his peers,” a New Zealand man has been sentenced to 252 months in prison for production of child pornography.
SKINNER
Troy George Skinner, who made international headlines when he traveled halfway around the world to meet a 14-year-old Goochland County girl with whom he had engaged in sexually explicit conduct online, was sentenced last Friday in federal court in Richmond to 21 years in prison for using the girl to create pornographic videos he surreptitiously recorded. When the girl eventually broke off contact, Skinner, 28, flew to the U.S. from Auckland, N.Z., and then traveled to the girl’s home, where he was shot by the girl’s mother on June 22, 2018, after throwing a paving stone through a
glass door window as he tried to get inside. In his backpack, police found pepper spray, a pocketknife and duct tape that he had purchased earlier that day at the Walmart Supercenter in western Henrico County. U.S. District Court Judge M. Hannah Lauck sentenced Skinner, who has a long history of psychiatric care in New Zealand that has included hospitalization, to 252 months in prison. The punishment is in the mid-range of federal sentencing guidelines calculated for Skinner, which called for a sentence of between 235 and 293 months of incarceration.
The mandatory minimum is 15 years. While acknowledging Skinner’s mental health problems and the trauma he suffered as a child, federal prosecutors said those issues fall short of negating the serious nature of his crimes, and they required a tough sentence. “To the government’s knowledge, this is the only case involving a defendant who flew halfway around the globe for the purpose of confronting a 14-year-old girl who broke off their online
see Skinner > page 3
Schools take first step on boundary line adjustment
Photo courtesy of Goochland County Fire-Rescue
Goochland crews working to fight rash of brush fires Goochland Fire-Rescue crews drafted water from a local pond as they worked to fight one of at least eight brush fires that broke out in Goochland last week. According to Goochland Fire-Rescue Chief Eddie Ferguson, ‘If the recent brush fire activity is a sign of what is yet to come for the spring, we may be in for a busy forest fire season.’
Contributed report Goochland County Public Schools (GCPS) has taken its first step toward developing new elementary attendance boundaries to alleviate overcrowding at the division’s elementary schools. A new, larger Goochland Elementary School is scheduled to open in fall 2024. Scott Leopold, executive director at Cooperative Strategies, shared during a school board meeting on Feb. 8 that a steering committee comprised of parents, staff and citizens will meet through April and will review data and maps to develop a boundary map that will then be submitted to Dr. Jeremy Raley, GCPS Division Superintendent. Raley will review the committee’s recommendation and make his recommendation to the school board, with
see Schools > page 4