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Florida anti-abortion activist gets 18 years for molesting teen
By Associated Press
Thursday, May 13, 2004MILTON,
Fla. - An activist with ties to anti-abortion violence again insisted
he was innocent of molesting a 15-year-old girl as a judge sentenced
him Wednesday to more than 18 years in state prison.
A jury last month convicted John Burt, 66, of five counts of lewd or
lascivious molestation or conduct. He could have received 15 years for
each count.
The victim, now 16, testified from Northern Ireland on a satellite
television link that Burt improperly touched her and wrote a note
propositioning her at Our Father's House, a home for troubled girls
Burt and his wife, Linda, ran in this Florida Panhandle city near
Pensacola.
Circuit Judge Ron Swanson sentenced Burt to 18 years, four months in
prison and ordered Burt to remain in jail until he holds a hearing to
determine if he can be released pending appeal.
``The appeal effort will show that there's a lot of sinister things
going on in this case, political and financial,'' Burt told the judge
before he was sentenced. Burt did not elaborate.
Burt has been a key figure in anti-abortion protests and violence in
Pensacola. He had associated with Michael Griffin, now serving a life
sentence for fatally shooting an abortion doctor in 1993, and Paul
Hill, executed last year for shooting to death another doctor and
clinic escort in 1994.
In the 1980s, Burt served jail time for bursting into a clinic and
damaging equipment. He also demonstrated in support of two young
couples who bombed three clinics.
Linda Burt said after sentencing that her husband was set up because of
his activism. She said the victim ran away and then made up the
accusations in hopes she could return to Northern Ireland, where her
mother lives.
``I will fight this to the very last breath that I have in me,'' Linda
Burt said. She also said the TV testimony violated her husband's
constitutional right to confront his accuser.
The girl testified from Belfast because her father, who lives in
Boynton Beach, refused to let her return to the Florida Panhandle.
Defense lawyer Nicole Ferry asked for a suspended sentence, saying John
Burt suffered a heart attack while the case was pending, must take
insulin for diabetes and has a history of mini-strokes.
Prosecutor Harmon Massey urged 25 to 30 years in prison, arguing Burt
has not shown remorse and that the crimes were all the worse because he
was serving as the girl's stand-in parent.
(
© Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )
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| PHOTO GALLERY | 
John Burt (AP) |
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