Virginia Beach delegate speaks out about suffering sexual abuse as a child: ‘It is never too late’
Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler shared a video on social media this week with a jarring message scrolled across the top.
“Court today to face my child molester,” she wrote on Twitter, above a video of herself brushing her teeth and applying eyeliner and lipstick.
Convirs-Fowler, a Democrat from Virginia Beach, is opening up about being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was 10 and 11 years old. In an interview with The Virginian-Pilot, Convirs-Fowler said she reported him to police last year after hearing he was dating a woman with a young child.
“It really motivated me to speak out,” she said.
Court documents state that her stepfather, Randall Boehm, who separated from Convirs-Fowler’s mother years ago but is still married to her, was facing two charges related to her allegations.
He accepted a plea deal Monday at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court, pleading guilty to aggravated sexual battery with a victim — Convirs-Fowler is identified in the court documents as K.F. — under 13 years of age. The offense occurred on or about June 13, 1992, documents show.
As part of the deal, the prosecution dropped a charge of indecent liberties by a stepparent that were suspected of occurring between October 1991 and December 1991, the court documents show.
Convirs-Fowler said she had mixed emotions as she sat in court Monday.
“It was hard (to see Boehm), but it was also validating to feel believed,” she said.
Convirs-Fowler said police had corroborated her accusations with friends and family members whom she had told about the abuse over the last few decades, including a friend from middle school.
The delegate said she will return to the court in April to give a victim impact statement.
As part of the plea deal, Boehm, a 61-year old Virginia Beach resident, wouldn’t serve time in prison. He was ordered to avoid unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 prior to his sentencing hearing, which is set for April 5. The defendant was also ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual mental examination, according to court documents.
As a child, Convirs-Fowler said she remembers struggling to articulate what had happened. Although she was able to speak more clearly about it as a teenager, she said she continued to downplay the situation.
“The last thing I wanted to do was disrupt my family,” she said. “I think women don’t always speak up because we tend to minimize things, and we don’t want to cause problems.”
Convirs-Fowler said the abuse she experienced had long-lasting impacts.
“It has affected my mental health pretty extensively,” she said. “It kept me on my toes all the time, worried something else would happen, and it made me the anxious person I am today.”
As a public figure, Convirs-Fowler said she hopes sharing her story will help others.
“Maybe it will give someone else the courage to speak out,” she said.
Convirs-Fowler first publicly identified herself as a sexual abuse survivor last year. In a Twitter post on Sept. 23, 2021, she shared a video and statement explaining she had been sexually abused by her stepfather in 1991 and 1992.
“I reported what happened to me 30 years ago,” she wrote. “I was scared nobody would believe me — Today, my abuser was arrested. It is never too late to speak out.”
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
