Police Arrest, Charge Michael Gardner with Sexual Battery of Child, a Family Member

City of Falls Church Police have arrested and charged Michael A. Gardner with two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery of a child, according to a news release from the city. He was taken to the Arlington County Adult Detention Center and will be held without bond pending his court appearance.

On Monday, the Arlington Circuit Court Grand Jury returned two indictments charging Gardner with Aggravated Sexual Battery of a Child, with offense dates spanning 2009, according to the news release.

The victim in the case is a family member who was under 13 years of age at the time she was assaulted. The allegations came to light only after Gardner was released from prison after his conviction was overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court in a 2011 case involving two counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery and one count of Object Sexual Penetration. That case involved the word of two girls against Gardner; they had come to Gardner’s home for a birthday slumber party for his daughter. The Supreme Court said a lower court wrongly excluded character evidence in his defense.

The victim in the most recent case related the incident to an individual who, by law, is a mandated reporter of child abuse allegations.

Gardner was the former head of the Falls Church Democratic Committee. Former Falls Church mayor Robin Gardner, was serving on the City Council at the time of his trial and testified in her spouse’s defense.

PHOTO: Michael Gardner