By STEPHEN DAWKINS

Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – A Shelby County man was sentenced to 70 years in prison for charges including sexual abuse of a child under 12, rape and sodomy.

Ronald Loyd Whitworth Jr. was arrested and charged in 2008 and found guilty of the charges by a jury in June.

He was sentenced by Circuit Judge Lara M. Alvis on Aug. 16 to 20 years for the rape charge, 20 years for the sexual abuse charge and 30 years for the sodomy charge.

Alvis noted in the sentencing order that the sodomy sentence was imposed under the voluntary sentencing guidelines and the “range of punishment far exceeds the guideline range recommended.”

“This court deviated from the guideline recommendation due to the age of the victim at the time of the commission of the offense, the heinous and deplorable nature of the facts of the case, the complete lack of remorse or consideration the defendant had during the trial for the victim, the defendant’s relationship with the victim…, the clear and apparent emotional, financial and psychological harm that the defendant caused…, and the nature of the offenses the defendant was found guilty of by a Shelby County jury,” the order read.

The sentences will run consecutively for a total of 70 years.

Whitworth was also ordered to have no contact with the victim or two other relatives, and will be required to pay various court fines.

The defendant has indicated he intends to appeal.

Whitworth, who previously listed an address on Weatherby Cove, off U.S. 280, in Birmingham, spent about a week in jail after Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him in April 2008 and was released on a $260,000 bond.

More charges were levied against Whitworth in May after members of the Secret Service searched his home.

At the time, Special Agent in Charge Roy Sexton said the Secret Service was brought in to assist in retrieving electronic data from Whitworth’s personal computer.

Officers with the Birmingham Electronic Crimes Task Force discovered dozens of movies and pictures containing child pornography on that computer.

A federal grand jury indicted Whitworth on charges of possessing child pornography and transporting a minor across state lines for sex, but Whitworth fled to Los Angeles before agents could arrest him.

His truck was found July 31, 2008, at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Inside were guns and a note that read, “They won’t ever fine me … six days in jail was unbearable for me,” according to authorities.

In August 2008, U.S. Marshals arrested Whitworth in an apartment in Washington state, and said he was staying with an acquaintance in Lynnwood, Wash., where he had assumed a new identity.

Before his arrest, the Secret Service had listed Whitworth as one of their “Most Wanted Fugitives.”

U.S. Marshals handled Whitworth’s extradition from Washington.