By Andrew L. Jaffee

The violence that Martin Luther King, Jr. abhorred, understood, and then finally took him from us, has stained his great legacy. The Rev. James L. Bevel was a “top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr.,” but turned out to be a sexual predator — a fox tending the chickens, as he “was a key architect of the 1963 Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Ala.” From the AP, Bevel:

… was sentenced Wednesday in a Virginia court to 15 years in prison for incest for having sex with his teenage daughter. …

The prison sentence was the most severe the judge could impose. Sentencing guidelines called for a term of probation and the jury that convicted Bevel recommended the 15-year sentence. …

During the trial, Bevel’s daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was just 6 years old, culminating in sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge. …

It is a credit to the judge for not holding back on Bevel’s sentence, as taking advantage of children is the worst form of perversion.