As the handcuffs clicked on John McLain’s wrists Thursday, the clean-cut Athens attorney lowered his head when he saw his daughter, her head in her hands crying, and his mother trying to console her.

“I love you,” the daughter said.

“I love you,” McLain replied as sheriff’s deputies escorted him from a Madison County courtroom.

After two days of testimony and about eight hours of deliberations Wednesday and Thursday, a 10-man, two-woman jury emerged about 12:30 p.m. with an answer for the 50-year-old man accused of picking up two Madison runaways – ages 12 and 13 – improperly touching them and masturbating in the nude in front of them at his home on July 4.

He was convicted of eight counts:

• Two felony counts of enticing a child;

• Four misdemeanor counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment;

• Two misdemeanor counts of second-degree sexual abuse;

He was found innocent of second-degree kidnapping but guilty of the lesser-included charge of second-degree unlawful imprisonment.

Sentencing will be at 10 a.m. March 13 at the Madison County Courthouse.

He faces penalties of one to 10 years and a fine of up to $15,000 for each count of enticing a child, up to one year and a fine of up to $6,000 for each count of second-degree sexual abuse and up to three months of imprisonment and a fine of up to $500 for each count of unlawful imprisonment.

Defense attorney Marc Sandlin said he would appeal the conviction.



McLain defends actions



As deputies escorted McLain to an elevator leading to the basement of the courthouse and then to jail, McLain commented on his conviction.

“I was trying to help them,” he said before the doors closed.

McLain said the two underage girls he is accused of enticing “flagged him down” as he drove his silver sports car along U.S. 72 and asked him for a ride. He drove them around, took them sightseeing atop Monte Sano Mountain and then to spend the night at his Athens home but he said he “pleaded with them to call their parents.” He said they responded “their parents didn’t care about them and let them be gone for days at a time.”



Victim’s mother



The mother of the 12-year-old victim said she was pleased with the verdict. Even though the jury did not find adequate evidence of kidnapping she believes the difficulty of going to court was worth it.

“I am happy because I think it will prevent this from happening to other young girls,” she said. As in all sexual abuse cases, the names of the victims and their parents have been withheld to protect their identities.

Her daughter testified that McLain appeared nude before the girls as they sat on his living room couch, where they had slept, and then masturbated in front of them causing the girls to hide in the pillows. She also testified that McLain twice touched her breast while the girls were at his home, and although she believed the first touch was an accident, she said he poked her breast again and said, “Oh, what’s that?”

Don Valeska, one of three attorneys with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office who prosecuted the case, said he was pleased with the verdict.

The 38-year prosecutor said the verdict should serve as a notice to those who might pick up underage girls.

“You call 911, you call police or their parents,” he said. “They are protected by their parents. There will be no sexual fondling. They are babies. If you pick up 12- and 13-year-old girls you are going to jail for a long time.”

Prosecutor Beth Poe said “that is one less dangerous person on the street.”

Prosecutor Tina Coker, who painted a vivid picture of McLain as a predator during closing arguments Wednesday, said she was pleased with the verdict.

Attorney Dan Totten of Athens, part of the defense team with Sandlin, was disappointed by the verdict, but said he had never seen a more deliberate jury and he thanked them for their service. All 12 jurors took notes throughout the trial and were very attentive.



No bond



Sandlin said he was “a little bit” surprised that McLain, who has no prior convictions, who has ties to the community and who showed up for court, was not freed on his existing bond or allowed to post a higher bond or a cash bond following the verdict.

Madison County Circuit Judge James Smith granted Valeska’s motion to revoke bond and immediately take McLain into custody.

“No child is safe with him out of jail,” Valeska said. “He is a flight risk … and a threat to the community. The court must realize what a predator he is and commit him to the custody of the sheriff.”

Valeska described McLain as a well-heeled, licensed pilot with “a tremendous amount of firearms.”

He also claimed that McLain had left the country following his indictment.

Totten told the judge that McLain had gone to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during the investigation but before he was arrested. However, he said, it was not an attempt to flee but rather a trip with a stockbroker that McLain had planned six months before. Totten also said he had told McLain it would be all right to go. He said McLain has no prior convictions, and in addition to being an attorney, is a certified public accountant who has clients who need him at tax time. He said he has ties to the community, including two daughters, his mother in Huntsville and other relatives in the area.

The prosecution argued that McLain applied for the passport 20 days after he was indicted.

Totten said his client had not been arrested.

The prosecution said he had been arrested in July.

The judge ordered McLain held without bond until sentencing.

A probation officer will meet with McLain in jail, get some biographical information, research his background and report to the judge before the sentencing. The judge will use the report to help him determine the appropriate sentence.

McLain voluntarily surrendered his license to practice law to the Alabama State Bar following his arrest, Sandlin said, adding that the sexual abuse charge would likely have resulted in a five-year suspension anyway.

Attorney General Troy King in a press release Thursday commended assistant attorneys general Valeska, Coker and Poe; Athens Police Detective Sgt. Dustin Lansford, who did the bulk of the investigation, and the Athens Department; the Attorney General’s Investigations Division, including Chris McRae; Madison Police Investigator Christie Gover and the Madison Police Department; and Limestone County Sheriff’s Lt. Guy Simmons and the sheriff’s department.