VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – The case against a Virginia Beach business owner accused of sexually assaulting a former employee is headed to a grand jury.
Benjamin Young is the president and CEO of Hybrid Air, an HVAC company based in Virginia Beach. He was arrested and charged with sexual penetration and forcible sodomy on Aug. 23. The charges come after a former employee told Virginia Beach Police that Young sexually assaulted her in his office on Voyager Court on August 16.
The woman testified against Young during a preliminary hearing in Virginia Beach General District Court on Friday. She said she’d been working for Young for less than a week when he told her he couldn’t afford to keep her on the payroll. He asked her to come back to the business the next week to pick up her paycheck.
The woman testified that he took her to his personal office, gave her her paycheck, and started up a conversation about body building and massage. She said Young massaged her leg and sexually assaulted her. She said she was crying and shaking during the assault, but she didn’t yell for help or push Young away because she was “worried about how he would react.”
The woman reported the assault to police and got a SANE exam right after it happened, which is a way to collect potential evidence after a sexual assault. A search warrant filed in the case shows that the woman told police Young was chewing tobacco at the time of the assault, and the SANE exam revealed chewing tobacco inside of her body.
Young’s defense team would not comment on the case on Friday. During a September bond hearing, a defense attorney told a judge that the sexual contact between Young and the woman was consensual.
Young’s case will go before a grand jury. If the grand jury issues indictments, his charges will move to Virginia Beach Circuit Court.