EATONTON, Ga. -- Sheriff Howard Sills has harsh words for black leaders and others who defended quasi-religious sect leader Malachi York, who pleaded guilty to child molestation charges this week.
Sills, who was called a corrupt racist by York and his followers, said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and state Rep. Tyrone Brooks made matters worse by defending the Nuwaubians, most of whom are black.
"They hold themselves out to be the champion of the oppressed black people," Sills said. "Who was being oppressed? ... Wasn't any white people being oppressed. It was little black girls and boys that were defenseless.
"And who do they come to defend? They come to defend the ... animal that was preying upon them. I totally dismiss them."
York, 57, pleaded guilty Friday to 77 counts of sex crimes against children.
He signed a plea agreement that recommends a 15-year prison sentence. York also will serve 35 years probation as an admitted sex offender.
Sills has clashed with York's group, the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, since 1998, when he filed suit to force them to close down a nightclub at a the group's Putnam County village.
Since then, the Nuwaubians have distributed fliers calling Sills a racist who beat his ex-wife and was responsible for a murder. The Nuwaubians claimed York was unfairly prosecuted because Sills disliked them coming to his small town and erecting strange pyramid-like structures with hieroglyphics and Egyptian symbols painted on them.
"I don't feel a need to be vindicated," Sills said. "I'm the sheriff. I have a duty to protect the lives, property, persons, health and morals of the people."
Sills denies the group's claims.
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright, who prosecuted York, said Sills withstood threats and the smearing of his character.
"I don't think anyone will ever be able to fully appreciate the personal sacrifices that Sheriff Howard Sills has made to bring this defendant to justice. The man has absolutely no fear."
Sills called York the embodiment of "real evil," and said he used race to muddy the political waters surrounding the investigation.
"Suddenly my credibility is questioned simply because this guy says he's being oppressed for race reasons. That's the thing that upset me the most," Sills said. "What other criminal activities around the country are flourishing because the political powers-that-be are not doing their duty - not their job, but their duty - because someone's playing the race card?"
Sills also lashed out at former Gov. Roy Barnes, who tried to mediate with the Nuwaubians in 1999 at Brooks' request. He said Barnes butted in and tried to tell him how to do his job in a bullying political style that resulted in him losing office.
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