Jeff Eddie – Colbert County Sheriff booking photo
TUSCUMBIA – The Colbert County District Attorney’s office has been talking to the families involved since the February 4 arrest of Jeffrey Dale Eddie, 41, of Muscle Shoals. D.A. Bryce Graham and his team of attorneys and investigators wanted to fulfill every jot and tittle of their investigation into the child molestation case against the man, in whom so many parishioners put their trust. With today’s plea arrangement, the presumed grand jury investigation was rendered a moot issue.
Eddie, the disgraced Youth Minister of Highland Park Baptist Church, was charged with over 30 counts of felony child molestation. Today, in District Judge Chad Coker’s courtroom, he plead guilty to sodomy, sexual abuse of a child and having in his possession numerous articles of child pornography. The pornographic material was found on Eddie’s desk computer at his church office. In all, he plead to 19 felony counts.
He is expected to be imprisoned for 30 years. “Not a day less,” said Colbert D.A. Graham. There will be no possibility of parole before 23 1/2 years. One news source quoted Graham, “He is pleading to 20 counts of sex crimes against a child. “We have checked and double checked with the Department of Corrections and the Department of Pardons and Parole, and we were assured that he will serve every day of the 20-year sentence and it would be about 23 1/2 years before he could possibly be considered for parole.”
Graham said that this plea arrangement puts Eddie behind bars for many years and eliminates the need for having the child-victims testify in court.
See our earlier story, Accused molester Eddie back in lockup… Case heads to Grand Jury – Exclusive Photos
1 comment
Hold up. He’s expected to only get thirty years? Apparently stealing innocence is only worth thirty years. I’m sorry, but no.