LEESBURG, Va. — A jury convicted a civil-rights figure of incest Thursday after concluding he had sex with his teenage daughter 15 years ago.
The Rev. James L. Bevel, 71, a top lieutenant to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who also helped organize the Million Man March, faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.
The four-day trial included bizarre testimony about Bevel’s philosophies for eradicating lust and parents’ duty to “sexually orient” their children.
Bevel’s daughter testified she was repeatedly molested by him beginning when she was 6 years old.
The jury reached its verdict after about three hours of deliberations.
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.
Bevel was also an organizer at other iconic events, including the 1965 march at Selma, Ala.
Prosecutor Nicole Wittmann said the jury shouldn’t be swayed by Bevel’s accomplishments.
“There’s nothing I can say to take away what this man has accomplished, but there are two Jim Bevels,” she said. “We’re talking about the one who had sex with his child.”
