Washington, D.C. ? The Rev. James L. Bevel, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement whose legacy was clouded by an incest conviction, has died, a relative said. He was 72.

Bevel died Friday in Virginia after a fight with pancreatic cancer, said a daughter, Chevara Orrin, who lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was recently released on bond while appealing a 15-year prison sentence.

Bevel was a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and architect of the 1963 Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Ala. In April, a jury convicted Bevel of incest for having sex more than a decade ago with a then-teenage daughter.