Man Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault of Boys

Denver Post
March 10, 2012

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20142460/man-sentenced-24-years-prison-sexual-assault-boys

A 65-year-old man has been sentenced to a minimum of 24 years in prison for sexually assaulting four young men from 2002 through 2009.

The man, James Craig Bird, from Jefferson County, was a pilot for a church leader at the Heritage Christian Center when he first met the boys, three of whom are brothers.

Bird first cultivated a relationship with the boys and their mother by helping them financially.

According to a news release from the First Judicial District Attorney's Office, the man bought the boys expensive cars, motorcycles and season tickets to hockey games, and also provided them with drugs and alcohol.

The two older boys were first sexually assaulted when they each turned 17, but sexual assault on the youngest brother started when he was 14.

Shortly after the boys turned 18, Bird legally adopted them and the boys lived with him. The young men told investigators that Bird would threaten and beat them when they would not comply with his requests.

Another young man came forward later, saying he was sexually assaulted by Bird in the mid-1990s when he was 13, while Bird lived in Douglas County.

Bird was arrested in Great Britain in November 2010. He pled guilty to charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust as a pattern of abuse.