On yesterday, former civil rights leader James L. Bevel was sentenced to 15 years in prison for having sex with one of his daughters back in the 1990s.
The prison sentence issued in Loudoun County, came despite the testimony of 71- year old Bevel, who recently learned that he has pancreatic cancer and may have only weeks or months to live. During the sentencing, Circuit Court Judge Burke F. McCahill told Bevel that neither his health or past accomplishments alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., would change the fact that he had sexually abused his daughter.
During his sentencing, Bevel was asked whether he accepted responsibility for his actions. His response was that he did not, but hoped to reconcile with his family.
Bevel was convicted of unlawfully committing fornication with his daughter Aaralyn Mills between 1992 and 1994. Bevel was convicted of the crime before Virgina became a no-parole state, and therefore will be eligible for parole in about five years, said Assistant Commonwealth Attorney, Gigi Lawless.
Bevel was on the frontlines of the struggle for racial equality during the 1960s. He helped organize the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma- to- Montgomery march in Alabama in 1965.
Bevel's daughter, the victim of the abuse, stated yesterday that she was saddened that Bevel had not owned up to what he had done to her.
