An Elmore County judge has sentenced Stephen Norman Conrad to 16 years in prison for sexual crimes against children.
Stephen Conrad (Tallassee Police)
Conrad, 32, of Tallassee pleaded guilty last month to four charges. Three were counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. The other was for sexual abuse.
Prosecutors say Conrad abused his victims multiple times before his arrest in May 2013. District Attorney Randall Houston said two of them were infants. Another was mentally challenged.
"We're happy with the plea. The good thing is that none of the victims had to testify," said Houston.
He explained that Conrad will not be eligible for good time credit, meaning he will serve at least a "substantial amount" of his prison time.
"We would have preferred life without parole or death. But that wasn't an option here," he said.
Conrad's wife, Brandy Jean Conrad, 28, is also serving time for her part in this case. In February, she pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse and was sentenced to 10 years in February.
Houston said her crime was that she knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Conrad's charges were one count for each victim, although he was originally charged with more than 100 counts after giving false confessions. This led into an examination into the Tallassee Police Department.
Houston said Conrad was originally questioned by former Tallassee Assistant Police Chief Chris Miles. He said Conrad confessed about victims he didn't touch after Miles kept hitting him with a phone book.
"He would have confessed to the Lindbergh baby killing," he said.
Miles was subsequently fired and investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. He was also charged with second-degree theft and burglary.
Houston said they were able to narrow the actual number of victims down to four. He said it is possible there are still other victims they don't know about, but they have confirmed four.
"I can tell you without question that was the number," he said.