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By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press Writer
LEESBURG, Va. – A jury convicted an iconic civil-rights figure of incest Thursday after concluding that he had sex with his teenage daughter 15 years ago. The Rev. James L. Bevel, 71, a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. who also helped organize the Million Man March, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.
The four-day trial in Loudoun County Circuit Court included bizarre testimony about Bevel’s philosophies for eradicating lust, and parents’ duty to “sexually orient” their children.
Bevel’s daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in an act of sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge.
The jury reached its verdict after about three hours of deliberations.
Before the verdict, the jury had heard only passing reference to Bevel’s role in the civil rights movement. But during the sentencing phase of the trial Thursday afternoon, the jury saw a documentary that spelled out Bevel’s key role in organizing the 1963 Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Bevel and King were leading organizers of the marches, in which police turned fire hoses and dogs on child protesters, drawing international attention to the brutality that was keeping segregation in place in the South.
Bevel was also a leading organizer at other iconic events in the civil rights movement, including the 1965 march at Selma, Ala.
Prosecutor Nicole Wittmann acknowledged Bevel’s accomplishments but said the jury shouldn’t be swayed by them.
“There’s nothing I can say to take away what this man has accomplished, but there are two Jim Bevels,” Wittmann told the jury. “We’re talking about the one who had sex with his child.”
Jurors heard a phone call between Bevel and his daughter in which he never explicitly admits to sexual intercourse but seems to take for granted that it occurred. During the call he explains the importance of teaching his daughter “the science of marriage” and admits that he did not want her to get pregnant after the incident.
Family members who confronted Bevel in 2004 testified that Bevel read a written accusation by his daughter and replied that he did not contest the facts she laid out.
But Bevel denied the charge on the witness stand. He testified that his family mistakenly perceived his refusal to deny the specific allegations against him as an admission of guilt.
Public defender Bonnie Hoffman urged the jury to ignore evidence that Bevel led an unconventional, communal lifestyle in which he taught that it was parents’ duty to “sexually orient” their children.
Instead, she told the jury to focus on the single incident for which Bevel was charged: an act of sexual intercourse that occurred in 1993 or 1994 while the daughter was a teenager and was living with her father in Leesburg.
Hoffman said there were questions about the timeline — the daughter said she could not recall exactly what year the act occurred, and her recollection of when she lived in Virginia did not fully mesh with school records and other testimony.
Hoffman also questioned why the daughter returned to voluntarily live with her father after the alleged incest. The daughter testified that she went back because she had nowhere else to go.
Prosecutor Nicole Wittmann warned the jury against getting confused by Bevel’s sometimes convoluted explanations of his philosophies and his justifications for his actions.
“There’s no excuse for his philosophy in the law, or whether he’s eccentric, or whether he’s an historical figure. … There’s no exception” Wittmann said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify the victims of sexual abuse. The daughter is one of 16 children Bevel said he has had with several different women.
The trial divided members of Bevel’s large family, with relatives testifying for both the prosecutor and defense.
Even the daughter expressed mixed emotions. As she waited Thursday for a verdict, she was occasionally joined by her father as the two smiled and cooed over the daughter’s new baby girl — Bevel’s granddaughter.
“The hardest part is I love my father, and I wish he loved me as much as I love him,” The daughter told jurors during the sentencing phase.
The jury must recommend a prison term ranging between five and 20 years. The judge will then have the option to accept the recommendation or lower it, but he cannot increase it.
In the 1960s, Bevel was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), two of the stalwart organizations that led efforts to desegregate the South.
In 1992, he was vice presidential running mate to political maverick Lyndon LaRouche, who has a home in Loudoun County but at the time was in a federal prison for a tax conviction.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
17 responses so far ↓
1 NativeNYer // Apr 11, 2008 at 9:28 am
I’m thoroughly disgusted, as would be Dr. King if he were alive to see this. Sickening.
2 Los // Apr 11, 2008 at 9:42 am
They are going to love tearing your @ss up in prison! As a father of a little girl myself I pray they put Bevel into general population so his @sshole will get split wide open repeatedly. Even convicts cant stand child molesters and they are first to be turned into beeouches! His civil rights past makes it even WORST! He violated his daugther’s civil rights and there is no tell how many other of his kids or other kids he had sex with. If Dr. King were alive today he would FIRE Bevel and disown him completely. Bevel, have fun getting your @sshole busted on a daily basis while you washing socks!
3 Rah // Apr 11, 2008 at 10:49 am
I’am very disgusted to read a Civil Rights man would something like to his own daughter as if he did not have a care in the world. I find this very disappointing because I know first had what his daughter has felt and has been going through I have been in her shoes, no word or an apology can heal the wounds that she will have for the rest of her life? I just pray that she is now a mother and has a daughter to protect her with both he eyes open and realize you can not trust just anybody?
4 Anonymous // Apr 11, 2008 at 11:23 am
I FEEL VERY DISGUSTED THAT A MAN THAT WAS A LEADER AND SUPPOSEDLY A ROLE MODE IN THE COMMUNITY WOULD DO SOMETHING AS DISGRACEFUL AS MOLESTE HIS OWN DAUGHTER OR ANY CHILD FOR THAT MATTER. I THINK HE SHOULD DEFINETLY BE PUNISHED FOR HIS WRONGDOING, AND I JUST WISH THIS COULD HAVE CAME OUT SOONER, BEFORE HE GOT TO ENJOY ALL THE EARLIER YEARS OF HIS LIFE. I THINK HIS DAUGHTER IS A BRAVE WOMAN FOR SPEAKING OUT, EVEN IF SHE WAITED SO LONG, BUT SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG AND GO THROUGH THINGS YOU BLOCK THEM OUT OF YOUR MIND AND DON’T RECALL THEM HAPPENING UNTIL YOU ARE MUCH OLDER. I HOPE SHE PROTECTS HER OWN DAUGHTER WILL ALL HER HEART, AND DON’T LEAVE HER WITH YOUR FATHER, EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 Niki // Apr 11, 2008 at 11:48 am
He is just nasty, y a big man like that would want to scar his kids for life? Man God is coming for his World…………..
6 Dee // Apr 11, 2008 at 11:56 am
You are a disgusting pervert. I hope you get your just desserts in prison. How can you call your self a leader and then go home and do these things to your own flesh and blood. Where did you receive your pastoral training? I don’t remember anything like this being in the bible!
I hope you have asked forgiveness from your child and God. You should not be considered a reverend to anyone. How can you counsel and teach and have not been properly taught.
OMG, I can go on and on, but I won’t.
I just hate hearing stuff like this.
Kudos to the daughter for coming forward. I know this had to be hard.
7 2cute4u // Apr 11, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Only one word, “SICK!” Yea, he’s gonna get it alright and that’s all I have to say!
8 cnpolk // Apr 11, 2008 at 1:56 pm
He is a disgrace to Dr. Kings legacy. I was praying that this was not true when I saw these allegations in Jet Magazine. Nasty old prune, eww, that is your blood your baby, how could you.
9 tasha // Apr 11, 2008 at 2:49 pm
My heart goes out to the daughter i also was molested as a child by a family member and i know the pain and heartache of this type of act from experinece; however i am a bit in doubt after reading this article if everything the daughter says is true. one thing i know is that molestation is something that you never forget therefore i am a bit leary when she says she can’t remember the year the sexual act happened but she can remember that it started at age 6. i understand that he was convicted i just pray that this wasn’t a wrongful conviction
10 jus t // Apr 12, 2008 at 8:35 am
What does him being tied with martin Luther King jr. have to do with this? In all the years since the assassination of MLK no one has put any dirt on him. He lived his life clean. This man (Be) should be condemned. He not only ruined his child life but he help white america tarnish one of the all time great legacy!
11 Anonymous // Apr 12, 2008 at 8:54 pm
What concerns me is that, people can easily write off and defame an individual without really knowing the facts. Everyone knows that white america and the media has always created and supported conspiracies to minimize the power of genuine leaders who made a difference in the world.
Ask yourself this, do we not use the history of an individual to help determine the state of mind of the individual. Dr. Bevel has a history of community and character developement. It’s written in the history books and its a self evident truth. How dare people, sit back without reading his history without knowing the positive influences he’s made in people’s live’s, to only rule out the possiblity of a conspiracy that may include his daughter. Has anyone investigated her history, and what have she contributed too, that would cause us to be bias and believe her story.
12 Anonymous // Apr 12, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Why do we let them take away our good leaders…..and give us Jessie Jackson!
13 Choupie // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Why are we so quick to pass on judgment, listening to both side of stories that is the only way one can find out which side is telling the truth. Do you know if all facts were allowed to be presented to the jurist ? do you know how much truth the prosecutor have hide from viewing ? Prosecutors are famous on filling motion to hide the truth, and jurors only goes by what was presented to them. Start LISTENING to both side of stories then make your own FINAL comment this approach was used by intelligent, educated, wise people.
14 Caimite // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Time will tell, maybe we will never find out.
15 Faith Jenkins // Apr 14, 2008 at 12:21 am
What happened here is very disturbing and all we can do is pray for all parties in this case. Please Prayer changes things!
16 TWEET // Apr 15, 2008 at 10:18 pm
SOMEONE COMMENTED ABOUT HER NOT REMEMBERING EXACTS, I WAS ABUSED BY SO MANY PEOPLE GROWING UP, AND ONE DAY I TOLD BY MOM ABOUT ONE OF THE INCIDENTS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER AND SHE SAID I WAS LIEING BECAUSE I COULDN’T BE EXACT; OMG THE PAIN. NO I DONT REMEMBER EVERY THING BUT I DO REMEMBER THE BAD BAD STUFF.
17 Rose // Apr 18, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I admired and respected your television progam in Chicago. I met you and one of your younger daughters inside your forum. I sincerely hope she is not struggling to hide inappropriate incidents which might have occurred between you two. You didn’t touch her inappropriately did you?
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