VIRGINIA BEACH
The evening had been lovely. Dinner and dancing, then back to her place.
But when Deborah Probyn asked him to leave, Charles Linwood Clarke III flew into a rage.
He head-butted her, breaking her nose and two front teeth, and threw her to the ground.
Clarke, the Beach entrepreneur and self-help author of "Love Is Our Final Destination," was ordered Tuesday to serve two years in prison for the Nov. 10, 2007, assault, which left the Virginia Beach woman with injuries requiring thousands of dollars worth of surgeries. He was convicted in February of malicious wounding.
Clarke, 37, has made a name for himself promoting his book, "Love Is Our Final Destination," at local bookstores. The 212-page book, self-published in 2007, is billed as an inspirational self-help manual fused with teachings from the Bible.
Clarke cast himself as unjustly accused and begged the court for leniency. He claimed he was highly intoxicated that night and had never assaulted other women who rebuffed his sexual advances.
He said Probyn, 56, may have hit herself or fallen into a counter.
"I regret not being sober enough to protect her," Clarke said.
Clarke announced he would pray for God to forgive her for lying, and he repeated a plea for everyone in the courtroom "to Google my name and get to know who I am."
Before issuing the sentence, substitute Circuit Court Judge Marc Jacobson acknowledged Clarke's achievements. But, he noted, "what happened to Ms. Probyn is certainly not a highlight of your career, sir."
Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com
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