RADFORD – After a three-day trial, a Radford jury has convicted a Pulaski man of abduction with the intent to defile, conspiracy to abduct to defile and sex trafficking.
Dashawn Tucker, 31, was convicted Friday, Mar. 22, 2024.
“The multi-jurisdictional event started in Radford Jan. 10, 2022, but ended in Henry County when authorities there responded to a 911 text for help,” explained Radford Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Rehak via email Monday. “Deputies arrived at a desolate trailer where two young females told of being abducted and repeatedly sexually assaulted by strangers to satisfy or “work off” a monetary debt. Dramatic body camera video of the rescue was played for the jury.”
The convictions carry up to a possible sentence. Abduction with intent to defile has a possible 20 years to life sentence, conspiracy to abduct carries one -10 years and sex trafficking is two-10 years. Tucker’s sentencing will take place this summer.
The following is a synopsis of the evidence presented at trial, per the Radford Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office:
The Commonwealth presented evidence Catlyn Wilhelm owed Dashawn Tucker money, and Tucker in turn owed a cohort named Waylon Cox money. With Tucker’s debt collection efforts heating up, Wilhelm went into hiding to avoid Tucker. Tucker went hunting for Catlyn over several weeks, even going to each of her parents’ homes. With Wilhelm unable to pay the $2,000, Tucker negotiated with Cox to trade the two girls for Cox “to use” in exchange for Tucker’s debt.
Radford Food City surveillance video recorded Tucker parking in a manner to block Wilhelm’s car with his automobile and captured the three leaving together in Tucker’s automobile. Tucker directed Tabatha Stephenson to drive and ordered Wilhelm into the front passenger seat while he sat behind the two women. After a stop at defendant’s apartment in Pulaski, the trio went to a secluded location in Floyd County. Here, custody was transferred from Tucker to his associate, Cox.
The Commonwealth called several witnesses from the HCSO, as well as a forensic nurse trained to treat sexual assault victims and collect evidence. Wilhelm was the only victim to seek this specialized medical attention. Stephenson and Wilhelm rightfully feared for their safety. The jury learned from police in Henry County that the defendant’s friends who assaulted the women are notorious for selling drugs and violent crime. Two different investigators testified to the danger of the gang, adding some of their witnesses in homicide cases have disappeared before court. One of the two females, Stephenson, was suspected of helping Tucker in the abduction of Catlyn Wilhelm. Stephenson was later charged as a co-conspirator and testified last week under a very rare immunity agreement. Stephenson was the Commonwealth’s first trial witness. She testified with obvious reluctance, limited recall and some glaring contradictions as to the specifics of her own abduction. Hence, all charges in which Stephenson was alleged to have been a victim were dismissed mid-trial.
The sworn account from Catlyn Marea Wilhelm was however entirely a different matter. After testifying at preliminary hearings in Henry County and the City of Radford, Wilhelm tragically died in August of 2022. Wilhelm spoke to the Radford jury from the grave as the Commonwealth played Wilhelm’s audio Radford preliminary hearing testimony as recorded on April 7, 2022. The jury had other supporting exhibits which included official court transcripts of Wilhelm’s Henry County testimony and medical records detailing her account. Wilhelm’s suffering during the frightening ordeal was not only well documented, but ultimately deemed very credible.
Tucker did not testify in his defense but provided a recorded statement at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office when he responded to pick up Stephenson and Wilhelm the night they were rescued. Tucker denied any nefarious complicity and even claimed to not know who he met in Floyd to transfer the two women.
“This case required a tremendous amount of work,” said Rehak. “The case would have been difficult if Catlyn Wilhelm testified in-person, and her absence presented a unique and unprecedented additional challenge. I decided to prosecute nonetheless and seek justice for Catlyn. Radford Police and Henry County law enforcement did a magnificent job. It is an understatement to say, the quest for Tucker’s accountability took on special significance after Catlyn’s untimely death.”
Staff report
