A 33-year-old man who raped a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Herndon pleaded guilty Tuesday, Aug. 11, in Fairfax County Circuit Court, ending a case that rattled users of the 45-mile regional trail that runs through McLean and Tysons.
Denis Humberto Roman Navarette faces up to 18 years in prison under the plea agreement, a maximum the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said exceeds the midpoint of Virginia's sentencing guidelines for rape. Sentencing is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 11 before Judge Dontae L. Bugg.
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said in a press release that his office pursued the outcome because Roman Navarette poses a clear risk to public safety and cannot remain in the community, adding that by raping a stranger in a public park, the defendant harmed everyone who uses public spaces.
The attack happened the evening of Nov. 18, 2024. The victim was walking home from Jimmy's Old Town Tavern in Herndon when Roman Navarette approached her between Ferndale Avenue and Grace Street on the trail and raped her, according to FFXnow. A passerby on the trail called 911 on her behalf. Officers found Roman Navarette in a nearby parking lot shortly after, and he confessed.
Prior conviction, early release
FOX 5 reported that Roman Navarette had pleaded guilty to indecent exposure on Nov. 13, 2024, five days before the trail attack, and was sentenced to 50 days in jail. He was released Nov. 14 after serving 25 days under Virginia's statutory good-behavior provisions. Four days later, he attacked the woman on the W&OD Trail.
Then-Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard said the day after Roman Navarette's November 2024 arrest that it was "the only stranger rape that we have had in the town in my more than 12 years as chief of police," according to WTOP.
Long road to guilty plea
After his arrest, Roman Navarette was found incompetent to stand trial and spent much of the following year in competency restoration proceedings through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Prosecutors filed a new rape charge May 29, 2026, and a grand jury indictment followed June 15. A July 31 status hearing indicated a plea would soon be entered.
Under the plea agreement, a separate abduction-with-intent-to-defile charge was dropped. A March 2025 charge of prisoner property damage to escape was also not prosecuted, Patch reported.
Roman Navarette is a Honduran national not authorized to be in the United States. ICE issued an administrative detainer Nov. 26, 2024, several days after his arrest for the rape.
Trail safety for McLean, Great Falls residents
The W&OD Trail stretches 45 miles from Shirlington in Arlington to Purcellville in Loudoun County, drawing 2 million to 3 million users annually. Fairfax County posts bicycle wayfinding signs along the trail in downtown McLean and Tysons, and the path is a regular commuting and recreation route for McLean and Great Falls residents.
Trail hours are 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily along the full 45 miles, though the section west of Herndon closes at dusk.
Residents can report suspicious activity on or near the trail by calling the Fairfax County non-emergency police line at (703) 691-2131 or Crime Solvers of Fairfax County anonymously at 866-411-8477.
