A Tulsa minister convicted of seven counts of child sexual abuse after raping and impregnating a 15-year-old family member has learned his fate. GregoryIvan Hawkins, 56, received seven life sentences after pleading guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse and pleading no contest to the remainingfive counts.
The case began in 2013 when a 15-year-old girl came to police and said that she was five months pregnant with the minister's child. The girl said the sexualabuse began in 2012, when she was only 14 years old. To help with the investigation, the girl recorded two conversations with Hawkins in which he talkedabout having sex with her.
At sentencing, Hawkins asked for leniency, saying that up until the incident with his teen relative, he had a clean record and was a minister who helpedpeople, not hurt them. He seemed to indicate that his record for doing good should outweigh the repeated sexual abuse and rape of a girl he was obligatedby law and duty to protect. He called his crimes a "bad decision," and said that the 20 months he has been in jail has been enough to "wake [him] up to change [his] life."
A pre-sentencing report recommended a "moderate" sentence for the man, but Tulsa County District Judge James Caputo scoffed at the recommendation, sayingmoderation in this case did not "make a lick of sense." He sentenced Hawkins to life in prison, the maximum for child sexual abuse. Each of Hawkins'sseven life sentences will run concurrently, and because child sexual abuse is an "85 Percent Crime," he will not be eligible for parole until he hasserved over 38 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Hawkins is a defendant in a pending Osage County case as well. He has waived his right to a jury trial in that case, and he is expected to entera plea to five counts of lewd molestation and four counts of second degree rape at an early September court date.
The mother of the girl has filed a federal lawsuit against Hawkins, the church where he served as minister, and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.The lawsuit claims that DHS wrongfully allowed her daughter to have unsupervised visits with Hawkins, despite having allegations of sexual abuse.
The woman alleges that shortly after Hawkins began molesting the girl, he had the girl file a false report that her mother was forcing her to have sexwith men in exchange for money (these allegations would later be proven untrue by DHS investigation). After the allegations were made, DHS removedthe girl from her custody, first putting her in an emergency shelter, and then placing her with temporary foster parents, who were members and employeesof the church where Hawkins served as minister. She says that despite allegations of sexual abuse, DHS placed the girl with a foster family who waslikely to allow unsupervised visits with the man pending the investigation.
These unsupervised visits led to continued sexual abuse and the pregnancy of a 15-year-old girl.
The lawsuit alleges that the girl was not removed from the foster home until 11 days after she had reported the sexual abuse to a school social worker.
A DHS spokesperson saysthat the agency "disagrees with the allegations being made in this suit and will vigorously defend the agency and its employees named."
The victim's mother is seeking damages in excess of $1 million in the lawsuit.
