'It pains me that you got to see a blade of grass,' judge tells convicted sodomizer

Apr. 10—A Hartselle man convicted by a jury last year of sodomy and sex abuse of a child under 12 was resentenced to life in prison Tuesday with 1,000 years of post-supervision release after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals declared his original sentence "illegal."

Thomas Michael Verbosh, 62, was transferred from Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer to Morgan County Jail on Friday to appear in court for his resentencing, court records show.

Verbosh was incarcerated in Donaldson after he was convicted in May 2023 of one count of first-degree sodomy and one count of sex abuse of a child under 12 for actions in 2018 against a 10-year-old female victim on his wife's side of the family, according to court records.

Verbosh was sentenced to life imprisonment for the sodomy conviction and 20 years imprisonment for the sex abuse conviction by Circuit Judge Charles Elliott on June 14, 2023. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively.

Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals presiding Judge Mary Windom on March 12 ordered Morgan County Circuit Court to resentence Verbosh.

"The circuit court was required to sentence Verbosh to a minimum of 10 years' post-release supervision for his sodomy conviction," Windom wrote. "Because the sentence imposed for that conviction did not include terms of post-release supervision, the sentence imposed by the circuit court was illegal."

In Elliott's courtroom on Tuesday, a shackled Verbosh stood next to his attorney, Russ Prickett, as Elliott acknowledged that state law required a stipulation of post-release supervision.

Elliott upheld Verbosh's life imprisonment plus 20 years per the original sentencing and added 1,000 years of post-release supervision, "in the unlikely event that (Verbosh) is released from prison in this life."

"I regret I didn't sentence you to that last time," Elliott said. "It pains me that you got to see a blade of grass ... or a tree," he added, apparently remarking on Verbosh's travel from Donaldson.

First-degree sodomy is a Class A felony defined by engaging in sodomy with another person by forcible compulsion, or with a person who is incapable of consent, or with a person who is under 12 years old.

Anyone convicted of a Class A felony sex offense involving a child is subject to electronic monitoring supervised by the Board of Pardons and Paroles for a minimum of 10 years after release from prison, according to Alabama Code 15-20A-20.

Court records show Prickett began representing Verbosh in July 2023, after Verbosh's conviction. Before that, Verbosh was represented by J. Brent Burney.

In addition to sodomy and sex abuse, Verbosh was also charged with first-degree rape when he was arrested in April 2019. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in May 2019.

Following his arrest, Verbosh's wife petitioned the court for a protection from abuse order on behalf of the child victim to whom she's related.

"Defendant (Verbosh) has explosive anger issues and impending charges of child molestation and/or rape of minor child" the wife wrote in the petition.

The victim "has disclosed that Thomas Verbosh, husband of plaintiff, has been sexually assaulting her ... . When myself and the child do not return home, I fear he will become violent. He has multiple firearms in the home as well."

Verbosh's wife also initiated divorce proceedings against him in 2019. The complaint indicates the pair, who did not have children together, were married in 2013 and separated on April 27, 2018 — 20 days after Verbosh was arrested.

Along with "incompatibility of temperament," during the marriage the wife claimed that Verbosh "committed acts of sexual intercourse and/or sexual contact with a minor child," according to the divorce complaint.

In response, Verbosh denied the sex abuse allegations. Their divorce was finalized in October 2020.

Verbosh remained in jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond awaiting his criminal trial until, in response to a move by his attorney, Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell reduced his bond to $5,000 on May 8, 2019.

"The State objects to a bond reduction but provided no argument," Howell reasoned in her order. On release, Verbosh was required to have no contact with the victim and to remain in the state.

In the fall of 2021, amid numerous jury trial delays, Howell amended Verbosh's bond conditions to allow him to visit family for a week in Pennsylvania, court records show. Also that year, the State notified Verbosh that they intended to use out-of-court statements from the child victim.

The victim was interviewed at the Morgan County Child Advocacy Center in April 2018 by a forensic interviewer, according to the notice.

"During the interview, (the victim) made allegations of sexual abuse against the defendant," the notice reads. The notice also indicated that the victim would be present at trial and available for cross-examination.

Ahead of the jury trial, Burney moved the court to rule some evidence inadmissible, such as the fact that Verbosh "refused to take a polygraph test."

Burney also requested that certain statements from the victim's out-of-court interview be removed from evidence: "speculative statements made by the alleged victim that the defendant had previously been incarcerated, speculative statements that the defendant had abused other children in the past, and statements from the alleged victim about the punishment that she would like for the defendant to receive."

Following Verbosh's conviction (the jury acquitted of the rape charge) and first sentencing, Burney moved the court for a new trial in early July 2023.

"The Court erred, and abused its discretion, in its rulings denying the Defendant's attempt to admit (into) evidence that the alleged victim had made a prior false allegation to law enforcement regarding a male assailant's attempt to abduct her," the motion argued, among other points.

"The Court did not properly charge the jury as to the applicable law on the credibility of witnesses," Burney wrote. "The jury's verdict was against the great weight of the evidence."

Elliott denied Burney's motion the same day with no elaboration.

Verbosh has no other criminal history in Alabama, according to court records.

"Parole is still an option," Prickett said after Tuesdays' sentencing. "His case is currently up on appeal."

Alabama prisoners convicted of certain Class A felonies, including first-degree sodomy, are scheduled for their initial parole consideration once they've completed 85% of their sentence or 15 years in prison, whichever comes first, according to Alabama Code 15-22-28.

— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.