Ex-Principal Sentenced to 15 Years in Sex Case

Originally published by The Associated Press, May 29, 2003

HAMMOND, Ind. — A former Baptist school principal who took an 11-year-old girl across state lines to have sex with her was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison.

It was the maximum sentence allowed for 31-year-old William "Andy" Beith under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

"The crime you committed is a heinous crime," U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano told Beith during a hearing.

Beith told the girl's family in court that he was sorry.

Beith pleaded guilty last summer to federal charges that he transported the girl across state lines to engage in sex. His sentencing was set for last October but was delayed so a presentencing report could be revised.

At a plea hearing in July, Lozano said he would hand down a sentence for a period between the 12 years and 7 months recommended by prosecutors and 15 years.

Beith was principal at Liberty Baptist Academy in Lake Station; he was fired after disappearing with the girl, then a sixth-grader at the school, in May 2001.

The two were found together a week later in Las Vegas.

Beith will get credit for the two-plus years he has served.