Lyon Sisters Murder Suspect Indicted for 1996 Rape in Woodbridge: Court

WOODBRIDGE, VA — A man already charged in the 1975 murders of two young girls was indicted Monday on rape charges in a 1996 incident, according to Prince William County Circuit Court filings.

Lloyd Lee Welch Jr., 59, was indicted on felony counts of rape, object penetration, aggravated sexual assault and indecent liberties.

He already is scheduled to go on trial in April for the murders of sisters Shelia Lyon (12) and Katherine Lyon (10), who were kidnapped from a Wheaton (Md.) mall more than 40 years ago.

The new indictment could become a factor in that trial.

Prince William County commonwealth's attorney Paul Ebert told WTOP the rape of the 7-year-old girl, now 27, happened in May 1996 in Woodbridge while Welch was visiting the victim's mother.

He declined to say whether the victim participated in the investigation.

In the Lyons sisters case, prosecutors in Montgomery County charged Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr., who is locked up in a Delaware prison, with the first-degree felony murder of the girls. He is the nephew of Richard Welch Sr., who has been named a person of interest in the case, and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Lloyd Welch was scheduled to go on trial for the sisters’ murders on Oct. 18 in Bedford County (Va.) but a new trial date of April 2017 was set so his attorneys can wade through hours of interviews the suspect gave with police.

Montgomery County authorities believe the girls were taken to Taylor’s Mountain in the rural Virginia county – where relatives of the Welches live and own land – and their bodies burned and hidden. In February 2015, investigators said they believed the girls were taken by the convicted sex offender and later sexually assaulted by his uncle, Richard Welch, according to court documents.

Photos: Montgomery County Police