By Heather Bell
CHRISTIANSBURG – A Christiansburg man has been sentenced to 50 years, and will serve 35 years, in prison for the 2025 sexual assault and abduction of a woman in a Christiansburg motel.
Joseph Nathan Penn, of Christiansburg, was sentenced for animate object sexual penetration, abduction, strangulation, assault and battery and destruction of property in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Sept. 23.
According to information released by the Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, the sentencing stems from an incident on Oct. 23, 2025 when the victim “went to the Budget Inn on West Main Street in Christiansburg to end her relationship with Mr. Penn.”
“While there, Mr. Penn violently assaulted her, which included punching her, throwing her to the ground, and strangling her to the point where she could not breathe.”
Penn would not let the victim leave the hotel room and subsequently attempted to tie her up and then sexually assaulted her. He also put a knife to her throat, which was later recovered by police and found to have the victim’s DNA on it. When Penn eventually let her leave the motel room, the victim “drove down the street and reported this to the Christiansburg Police. Mr. Penn was arrested shortly thereafter coming out of his hotel room.”
Penn also used his phone to record himself holding the knife to the victim’s throat. He was convicted following a trial before Judge Mike Fleenor on May 20, 2026, which was prosecuted by Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Jensen.
Penn was sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison. He will serve 35 years in prison for object sexual penetration. He also received 10 years for abduction and five years for strangulation, which were all suspended.
“Upon his release, Mr. Penn will be on probation for 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender,” according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney office. The court also entered a lifetime protective order against Penn prohibiting all contact with the victim.
“Sexual assaults almost always occur behind closed doors, with no witnesses, making them some of the most difficult cases to prove,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Jensen. “Thanks to the swift actions of the Christiansburg Police Department, valuable evidence which corroborated [the victim’s] testimony was recovered and used to secure these convictions.”
