A former Lawrence businessman was ordered Wednesday to spend more than 11 years in prison for molesting a young boy.
Donald Collins, 60, pleaded guilty in August to a single charge of aggravated criminal sodomy for an alleged series of 1998 incidents he originally faced 10 counts with a 13-year-old boy.
Collins sobbed Wednesday during a brief statement to District Judge Paula Martin.
"I could say a lot, talk about my background, but it would only show that what I've done was wrong," he said.
"I'm definitely sorry for what has happened. I continue to resolve this in my own mind. I just plead for the mercy of the court."
Defense attorney David Brown said his client's "honorable past" including Navy service and activism in Lawrence real estate and politics had been tarnished by the crimes.
"It's really a dual tragedy," Brown said. "One for the victim ... but this is also a tragedy for (Collins).
"He had the respect of the community, his family and friends. But he's lost all of that."
Brown said Collins was having family and health problems at the time of the encounters. Collins will seek counseling in prison, he said.
"He tells me he doesn't fully understand what happened or why," Brown said.
Assistant Douglas County Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel sought to counteract sympathy by describing in limited detail the nature of Collins' crimes.
"The evidence would've been overwhelming" if the case had gone to trial, Zabel said.
The victim did not speak at the hearing. Martin noted she had received a flood of letters from Collins' family and friends, asking for leniency.
But she said state sentencing guidelines allowed her to give Collins no less than the 136-month prison sentence.
"Probation and treatment are not possibilities in this case," she said.
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