Monday, August 24th 2015, 1:13 pm
For sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he's related to, a former Tulsa pastor is headed to prison for seven life terms.
All of Gregory Hawkins' sentences will run at the same time. He must serve 85 percent of the life sentence, which means he could get out in 38 years.
Hawkins started having sex with the girl when she was 14, and it lasted for a year until she got pregnant and went to police.
Prosecutors said Hawkins had the girl lie and say her mother was prostituting her out. The mother lost custody and the girl went to a foster with parents that were employees of Hawkins, which gave him access to her whenever he wanted.
Monday, Hawkins asked for mercy, but prosecutors told the judge he's manipulated the court system once and should be allowed to do it again.
They said he doesn't understand the gravity of what he did because he told investigators he hopes to, one day, have a good relationship with the girl.
Prosecutors said Hawkins went by the foster parents' home at night, picked up the girl and took her to motels, his church and parks to have sex with her.
7/25/2013 Related Story: Tulsa Pastor Arrested For Having Sex With Underage Girl
The district attorney disagreed with Department of Correction's recommendation for Hawkins to get a moderate sentence.
"We feel the recommendation by the Department of Corrections, while we respect it, is way too lenient in this case. I argued for life in prison, and the judge agreed," Assistant Tulsa County DA, John Brasher said.
Hawkins told the judge he was sorry and that he'd made a bad choice. He pointed out all the good he's done in the community through his ministry and said he's not a pedophile, violent or a risk to society or children.
Hawkins said the 22 months he spent in jail have humbled him and given him a hatred for sin.
"He tends to manipulate situations and has manipulated the court system in the past and is doing that today," Brasher said.
The judge said the recommendation of a moderate sentence, in this case, didn't make sense. He, instead, gave Hawkins a life sentence for each of the seven sex abuse charges to run at the same time.
Records show Hawkins told the girl that if she got an abortion and not go to police he would pay for her college and buy her a car and a house, but the girl had the baby and gave it up for adoption.
She is now attending a two-year women's program out of state to get counseling and work on her GED.
August 24th, 2015
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