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Former Riverbend Volunteer Fire Chief Gary Lee Toler faces up to 95 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual assault and child pornography possession Tuesday in Danville Circuit Court.
Toler, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault on a minor and 15 counts of possession of child pornography, according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman.
Toler will be sentenced Sept. 2 in Circuit Court. His bond was revoked after the plea, and he’s being held in the Danville City Jail. The court ordered Toler to undergo a psychosexual evaluation.
Toler, a former Pittsylvania County fire marshal, resigned his post as chief last week.
The case was scheduled to start today, but Newman said Toler changed his plea Tuesday afternoon. Newman said the assault was reported to Danville police in October 2006. The victim told police that there were suggestive images on Toler’s computer, he said.
Police interviewed Toler about the incident and asked if he would let them look at his computer. The computer was analyzed and images found on the computer were sent to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Newman said.
The prosecutor said the center searched its database and was able to match the photos with children — some of the images were at least 10 years old.
“These are photos of actual children,” Newman said.
Toler was arrested July 1. He served as the county’s fire marshal from the early 1990s until 1996.
He also was the county’s public safety coordinator during that time.
• Contact Bernard Baker at or (434) 791-7986.
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Reader Reactions
Why his picture is not on here just like the rest of the criminals?
Well, lets hope when he gets to prison they put him in gen pop and a little jailhouse justice is dealt out. We all have heard stories of how pedophiles are treated in the big house.
It is scary and a person like this deserves to be put under the jail. I hope he gets the whole 95 years. As far as what kind of person he was, we really don’t know how long this might have been going on, he just finally got caught. People always want to blame what happens on someone’s childhood. There is enough information available for someone to see what is right and wrong and know which way is right. Anyone desiring to overcome something that might have happened to them as a child can do it, personally I know. I am sure this man’s parents don’t feel they did anything to make him do something like this. We are all responsible for our own actions and should take responsibility for such and not blame the adults we night have been around.
Not only is this situation scary, but it is very, very sad. Something went wrong at some point in time in this person’s life that he turned to children and pornography. For so many years he was a model citizen. One would have to question his childhood.
This is really scary. I am from Pittsylvania Co. To know that we have a repected member of society walking around who secretly has a thing for child porn it terrifying.To think he has sworn to serve and protect our children, its sick. I’m glad we caught him before he acts on his thoughts.
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