Father Al imprisoned for molesting two boys

“Father Al” imprisoned for molesting two boys

Alan “Skip” Stanford, better known as Healdsburg’s “Father Al,” was visibly shaken Tuesday when we (sic) was sentenced to state prison for illegal sex acts with two boys.

Superior Court Judge Raymond Giordano sentenced Stanford without comment, ordering him to serve 13 years, four months in state prison.

Stanford returned to court for sentencing after a court-ordered diagnostic study in June and a supplemental sentencing report ordered in October, which said that “a state prison sentence at the maximum term would be the most appropriate sentence at this point.”

The judge also ordered Stanford to pay $5,000 in restitution and gave him credit for the 603 days he has spent in custody since his arrest on charges of molesting two boys, ages 14 and 17.

Stanford, a self-proclaimed archbishop in the American Orthodox Church, was active for about a year in Healdsburg. He set up what he claimed was a seminary and claimed to be a minister to the homeless and AIDS patients.

Last year, Stanford pleaded no contest to three counts of oral copulation with a person under the age of 18 and two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct. As part of the plea bargain, the District Attorney’s Office dismissed five additional counts.

Defense attorney Walter Risse objected to the reports as insufficient. He said Stanford has the support of the two boys and their mother, who do not want to see him imprisoned, as well as backing of various groups within the community.

“I don’t think I’m guilty of all I’ve been charged with,” Stanford told the judge, proclaiming his innocence. He said he was “sorry for not catching myself in time.”

Deputy District Attorney Raymond Donnelly urged the judge to sentence Stanford to state prison, saying he abused two young children. “That’s why he’s here today. This is one of the most scathing reports to come back from the state hospital.

“My only regret is that we only have 13 years we can put him away for.”

Donnelly earlier told the court that Stanford could have rejected the plea bargain and asserted his innocence if he believed the charges were false.

Deputy Probation Officer Paul Tendick recommended the maximum sentence.

In his pre-sentence report to the court, Tendick said, “There is no question that the defendant is seriously disturbed. He has expressed no remorse for his involvement in these offenses, and in fact denied involvement with the younger victim despite his guilty plea. He offered self-serving excuses for his behavior and he surrounds himself with other weak and disturbed individuals, one of whom described Stanford’s crimes as a ‘moment of indiscretion.’

“There is absolutely no justification for recommending that he be placed on formal probation in this instance.”

After sentencing Stanford to prison, Giordano dismissed another case against him involving bad checks.