A former candidate for the Patrick County Board of Supervisors no longer faces felony charges after a judge ruled that a search warrant used to obtain evidence contained an error.
Patrick County Circuit Judge G. Carter Greer ruled this month that a warrant for the search and seizure of Malcolm Roach Sr.’s personal computer was invalid, prompting 10 felony bestiality pornography charges that he had faced to be dropped.
Roach’s attorney had filed a motion to suppress the search of his personal computer, arguing that one of the search warrants contained an error, Patrick County Commonwealth’s Attorney Dayne Kendrick Bobbitt said in a statement.
“Following a hearing on July 1, 2026, Judge Greer ruled that the search and seizure of Roach’s personal computer was invalid. As a result, all evidence recovered from the computer was suppressed. Without that evidence, the Commonwealth was unable to proceed with the prosecution, and the charge was dismissed,” she said.
Roach said in a phone interview on Tuesday that it felt like a “huge weight was lifted” off of him.
“From day one, I knew they couldn’t prove their case,” he said. “How do you send someone to jail for a felony with no evidence?”
Roach, who unsuccessfully ran for the Smith River District seat on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors in 2025, said that the charges against him were “untrue” and “strictly political.” He added that the sheriff’s office brought the charges in June 2025, days after he announced his bid for office. Authorities had seized his computer six months earlier while investigating the death of his wife, Angela Laprade Roach. She had died by suicide, Roach said.
“This was strictly political,” he said. “They didn’t charge me with bestiality nonsense until June, two days after I announced I was running for office.”
Bobbitt denied that accusation Tuesday, and said neither Roach’s political views nor his position on local issues played any role in the decision to prosecute the case.
“The charge was based solely on evidence obtained during a law enforcement investigation and the applicable law,” she said.
Roach previously served as a Republican appointee and chair of the county board of elections, but he was automatically removed from that position when he qualified as an independent candidate for the county board race. He lost his bid for the county board seat in November by a 45.21-point margin.
He said that he had been outspoken against the installation of solar farms and an effort to adjust home assessments in Patrick County.
Current supervisor Steve Marshall said via email that he did not find Roach’s retaliation claim credible.
“By Mr. Roach’s own account to The Enterprise in June 2025, his computer was seized during the investigation into the death of his wife — not because of anything he said about solar projects or assessments,” Marshall said.
Marshall pointed out that Roach’s computer was analyzed by the Virginia State Police High Tech Crimes Division, and the indictments were returned by a grand jury.
“When law enforcement encounters potential evidence of a crime in the course of an unrelated investigation, they are obligated to pursue it. That is not retaliation. That is the law working the way it is supposed to,” he said.
Marshall, who represents the Blue Ridge District, said his point of view is not representative of the board or county.
“Once a nasty story like that is posted in the paper, they put handcuffs on you, put your picture on the front page. … Guess what? My reputation in Patrick County is done,” Roach said. “I’ll never be asked to preach at a church again, I’ll never be asked to fill in for a pastor who is sick, which I’ve done many times.”
He added that his attorney suggested Roach sue the sheriff’s department. But Roach, 72, said he does not plan to do so.
“A lawsuit like that is going to take 10 years,” he said. “I may not even be alive at 82. All I want now, I just want to be left alone. I want peace in my life. That’s all I ever wanted to begin with.”
Roach has since moved out of Patrick County to Alabama to be near family, where he purchased 45 acres of land and keeps horses.
“It is what it is. I’m a happy camper,” he said. “Life here is nice and I just want it to stay that way.”
“I know one thing for sure, I’ll never get involved in politics again,” he added.
