A Survivor’s Battle Amid Parole Concerns for Convicted Rapist

For over three decades, Amy has carried the burden of the trauma inflicted by a horrifying rape on Valentine’s Day, 1992, in Virginia. A breakthrough emerged last year when DNA evidence linked the assault to a convicted rapist, Anthony Favors.

In September 2025, Favors, at 57, agreed to a plea deal for two counts of rape, which resulted in a 24-year prison sentence. Norfolk Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. sentenced him to 12 years for each count, to be served consecutively. Subsequently, Amy received an automated notice via VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) about the parole board’s plan to review Favors’ case.

I finally get some sort of closure and justice. And then I get a text,” Amy expressed in her conversation with Fox News Digital. “Nobody yet has told me how he’s even eligible for parole.

Amy endured the attack while serving in the Navy. This revelation has resurfaced old wounds as the parole board considers Favors for potential release.

Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi, informed Fox News Digital that Favors is facing a possible “discretionary parole hearing” soon. Fatehi clarified that a bureaucratic overlap caused the situation. The parole board had once reviewed Favors for a prior rape conviction but did not approve it, thus allowing the current review to proceed.

Favors was initially serving a 60-year sentence for a separate rape committed in March 1992. A DNA match in 2024 connected him to Amy’s case. Because his offenses occurred before January 1, 1995, Virginia’s older sentencing laws allow the parole board to consider his release.

Fatehi noted a minimal to zero chance of Favors’ release, but the mere potential for a hearing has deeply affected Amy.

Amy described her feelings as “disgusting” and questioned where her justice lies in the system. The assault significantly impacted her life, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic sleep issues, and a continuous state of alertness.

Amy continues to grapple with psychological scars that have altered her daily life. Her routine involves compulsively checking locks and suffering from sleep deprivation.

If you took the Amy before my rape and the Amy after my rape, I am two different people, she stated.

Heather Keeley from the nonprofit Stand Tall, emphasized how the justice system can further traumatize victims by revisiting such cases. Keeley criticized the process, noting the discrepancy in parole eligibility timing, given the recent sentence.

And here it is less than six months later, and she’s calling us all that she just received a text message that he’s going before a parole board… how is that even possible?

With a new parole hearing looming, Amy will need to recount her ordeal to argue against Favors’ release, potentially undoing her trauma recovery progress. Amy plans to request a three-year delay in the parole hearing to protect herself from annual retraumatization.

I now have to explain myself again as to why he shouldn’t get out… It’s too much. But I gotta speak for me, and I gotta speak for these other victims who can’t speak for themselves, Amy asserted.

She also shared concerns that the parole board’s decision might diminish public trust in the justice system and discourage other victims from coming forward.

The Virginia Parole Board does not release its full hearing schedule publicly, but it shares monthly parole outcomes on its website. No immediate response was received from Favors’ defense attorney or Governor Abigail Spanberger’s office upon request for comments.