A 77-year-old Birmingham church bishop was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with the chance of parole for molesting a boy who once visited his home.
Samuel Pippens showed no emotion after Circuit Judge Clyde Jones handed down his decision. Pippens' attorney said she will appeal.
Pippens had faced 10 years to life in prison for sodomy involving the boy, now 13, who testified last December he was molested from age 7 or 8 until he was 12 at Pippens' East Lake home.
The child's mother tearfully told Jones she didn't want to see Pippens go to prison and that if Pippens can apologize she asked that Jones be lenient in sentencing. She thought an apology would help her son heal.
"My son tells me he hates his life. He wished he was dead," she said.
A break was called so that Pippens' attorney could confer with him. However, an apology never came.
After court, defense attorney Sherryl Snodgrass Caffey of Huntsville said her client maintains his innocence.
"He can't apologize without telling a lie," she said. "This is a person who holds the truth very dear. He can't apologize for something he didn't do."
Testimony during the trial was that Pippens and his wife baby-sat the boy periodically in their home. The boy said the abuse happened when he and Pippens were alone.
Pippens' wife, who is pastor of the Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Church in Birmingham, told the judge the boy had not been to their home since he was 5. Vivian Pippens remains supportive of her husband and said after court her husband was treated unfairly.
Prosecutor Jim Neill called Tuesday's sentence appropriate, and said that a 20-year-old man who faced the same sex crime would have received the same sentence.
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Posted by Editor at February 24, 2005 11:51 AM
