By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Stockton Record
October 4, 2011
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111004/A_NEWS09/110040313/-1/A_NEWS07
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| Roger Earl Rickman, right, was a chaplain for a VFW chapter and a pastor of a Christian church in Tracy. |
MANTECA - A Tracy pastor who pled guilty to molesting a 7-year-old girl from his church was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison.
Roger Earl Rickman, 66, also a veterans' group chaplain, received a plea deal for admitting to one count of sexual abuse of a child younger than 10.
Rickman was a close friend, and a grandfather figure, to the girl's family, said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Elton Grau.
As founding pastor of Tracy's Fresh Anointing Faith International Christian Church, Rickman had earned trust from the family at a time when the girl's father was dealing with cancer. Rickman, who was part of the family's support system, performed healing rituals on the dad, the deputy district attorney said.
"This is a very religious family," Grau said. "This situation has affected their beliefs, not in God, but their belief in trusting other people.
"It has shaken them to the core."
The child's mother reported to Tracy police in June that her daughter said the pastor made her perform sexual acts in his vehicle. On occasion, he drove the 7-year-old home from school.
Rickman initially faced six counts of sexual abuse, carrying a possible sentence of 45 years to life.
But Grau has said the girl's family supported the idea of offering a plea deal to avoid any further emotional stress that testifying might have caused the child.
At the sentencing, Oakdale-based defense attorney, James A. Fonda, read aloud a letter on Rickman's behalf.
"I want to say ... how very sorry I am," the letter read. Rickman's statement asked for forgiveness from the victim's family, his own wife and his children.
According to Rickman, he confessed his sins to God and wants to live the rest of his life making up for his wrongdoing.
"My soul is free for the first time," he said in the letter.
There were more than a dozen of the victim's relatives at Monday's sentencing, but the family declined to comment. The child was not present.
Grau said Rickman used his position of power to violate the family in one of their most vulnerable times, as they dealt with illness.
Rickman, a respected community leader, also was a chaplain for American Legion Post 172 and a master chaplain at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1537.
Grau said the girl's parents told him she still has nightmares, and sleeps with her parents for fear that Rickman will hurt her again.
Grau read part of a statement from the girl's mother: "Every day I see her smile. I always wonder what she hides behind that."
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