Norfolk Virginian, July 31, 1889

Arrested for an Heinous Offense.

Moral -- Other violent crime

[Special to the Virginian.]

ONANCOCK, Va., via Tasley, Va., July 30. -- Magistrate Peter Cooper and several others arrived here yesterday morning from Tangier Island, having in custody a young white man by the name of Joshua Landing, aged 16 years, who attempted a criminal assault on a little four-year-old daughter of Mrs. Thomas, who says she caught Landing, who is her husband's nephew, in the act of committing a terrible deed. She immediately procured a warrant for his arrest, and he was carried before Magistrate Cooper, who put him under a $100 bond and sent him on to court. The natives of the island do not believe the charge, asserting that Mrs. Thomas disliked the boy, who lived with them and tried to persuade her husband to get rid of him, but failing to do so, trumped up this charge. Hon. T. H. Bayly Browne, M.C., has been retained by the defense.