Trigger Warning: Rape
Jury Convicts Man of Raping, Extorting Money from Sex Worker at Norfolk Motel in 2024
NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted Zimonion Melvin Adams, 25, on Friday of abduction, two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy, and two counts of extortion after he sexually assaulted and demanded money from a sex worker last year.
Around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2024, Mr. Adams met with the sex worker — with whom he was acquainted from a previous sexual encounter — at a Shore Drive motel under the pretense that Mr. Adams would be paying her for sex. When Mr. Adams arrived at the victim’s room, he pulled out a knife and demanded money from her. The victim begged Mr. Adams not to kill her and told him she did not have any money but that she might be able to contact someone who had money.
Mr. Adams said that he was going to have sex with her first, forced her to perform oral sex upon him at knifepoint, and raped her. Mr. Adams then made the victim call her relatives, and two of them sent money to Mr. Adams through a banking app. The victim begged Mr. Adams to leave, but he forced her again to perform oral sex upon him before he raped her a second time. Mr. Adams then forced the victim to stand in the shower and backed out of the hotel room. Security camera footage from the motel showed Mr. Adams arriving at and leaving the room.
The victim contacted Norfolk Police later that evening to report the crimes Mr. Adams had committed against her and gave a description of him to investigators. After police and the victim positively identified Mr. Adams, arrest warrants against Mr. Adams were secured for abduction for pecuniary benefit, two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy, and two counts of extortion. Police arrested Mr. Adams on Sept. 11 and, after being read his Miranda rights, he confirmed his presence at the motel and claimed to have had consensual sex with the victim. The police served a search warrant on the car Mr. Adams had driven to the motel and seized a knife and gun from inside.
Mr. Adams pleaded not guilty to his charges and requested to be tried by a jury. After hearing the evidence in trial between June 24 and 26 and deliberating for about two hours, the jury convicted Mr. Adams as charged. Judge Joseph C. Lindsey, who presided over the jury trial, set Mr. Adams’s sentencing hearing on Oct. 31.
“Mr. Adams violated the victim in this case in a premeditated, violent, and ruthless fashion,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I am thankful to the survivor of this crime for coming forward and to the police for taking her allegations seriously and investigating them right. Sex workers are among our most vulnerable victims, because the nature of their work makes them less likely to speak to the police and more likely to be targeted for robbery and rape. Nobody deserves to go through what this victim endured, and at sentencing we will recommend a prison term that accounts for the seriousness of Mr. Adams’s crimes and protects the community from further harm.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Tara Sue Terwilliger and Matthew G. Finley are prosecuting Mr. Adams’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Andrew J. Jowdy led the investigation.
If you and/or someone you love has fallen victim to a crime — including but not limited to sexual violence — resources are available at the Norfolk Family Justice Center. For more information, please visit norfolkfjc.org, call 757-330-0376, or stop by the NFJC located at 835 Glenrock Road, Suite 100, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. If you are in crisis, call the 24/7 hotline by dialing 757-251-0144. In an emergency, please call 911.
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