Backwoods Celebrity Faces Long Prison Term For Incest

[Mark E. Smith]

Washington Post - Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Robert Hale, a Bible-toting father of 15 who calls himself Papa Pilgrim, became an anti-government
celebrity in Alaska by driving a bulldozer across a national park that encircles his land.

The Lord told him that using the bulldozer to clear 14 miles of derelict road through the park was
a loving thing to do, Hale said in an interview three years ago.

"In order for me to love my children, I have to be a provider," Hale said then, explaining that he
needed the bulldozer to fetch supplies for his children, whom he and his wife were home-schooling
in an ultra-strict Christian way.

He said his children read only the bible, always bathed with their clothes on and were not allowed
to see each other naked.

Yesterday in a Palmer, Alaska, courtroom, Hale, 65, answered very different questions about his
behavior and his family: He pleaded no contest to multiple charges that he raped one of his
daughters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/26/AR2006122600847.html?nav=rss_print/asection

[hatrack]

1. Does this mean he won't be a "Wise Use" spokesman anymore?

Sick fuck - I hope he goes to jail for a very long time.

[xchrom]

2. he's getting what he deserves.

[saigon68]

3. Sounds like a Priestly sort of religious nut job

Can you hear Benedict calling?


"bathed with their clothes on and were not allowed
to see each other naked."


Except when he pulled out his thermometer

[Hoosier Dem]

4. He'll probably be made a Cardinal

[Phredicles]

14. Naw, too hetero...

[maxsolomon]

5. poor kids

they need deprogramming. and mrs. pilgrim, too.

send them to live with buddhists. in a city.

[Auntie Bush]

6. Another one bites the dust! Man, will it ever stop?

Of course not. "We have miles and miles to go" as Robert Frost would say...if I remember correctly.

[truthisfreedom]

8. No. As long as there are evil a**holes in the world, they'll use religion to mask their crimes.

Sad thing.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Another right-wing hero, lord love him.

On family Web site, Papa Pilgrim says he obeys God’s will

Anchorage, Alaska - From Anchorage to Alaska's borders, law enforcement officials are scouring every square inch of our state for Robert Hale, or Papa Pilgrim. Hale’s Web site sheds an interesting light on his family and his life journey. And in light of the serious charges he’s facing, there's one part of that Web site that is particularly chilling.

Head to www.pilgrimfamily.com and you'll find pictures and biographies of each Hale family member. Click on a picture and get a detailed account of that person's life, written by Papa Pilgrim (This is changing right now - the site has been taken over by the family, but if you look up Google's cache of the site, you can see some of it). Throughout the site, Hale writes about how God speaks to him and how he's his servant and obeys his will.

The Web site also has a link to an Anchorage Daily News article from 2003. In that interview, Hale, who's now accused of kidnapping, sexual assault and incest, dating back seven years, said all of his children are virgins. He says they bathe fully clothed and have never seen a naked human body.

The mother, Country Rose, told KTUU last night that she would like people's prayers for her family and that she and her children are OK.

In the meantime, it's important to point out that Hale is only being charged with acts that allegedly occurred in Alaska.

“Any conduct that occurred prior to living in Alaska, I could not pursue charges on that conduct, if any. That would be outside the state's jurisdiction,” said Richard Payne, assistant district attorney in Palmer.
(snip/...)

http://exchristian.net/2/2005/09/on-family-web-site-papa-pilgrim-says.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judge orders token fine for Pilgrim son

Says Park Service should avoid “bully reputation”

Son elected next day by District 6 Republicans as delegate to state convention

SUNDAY MARCH 28—ANCHORAGE—

Joseph Pilgrim of McCarthy, eldest son of Robert Hale “Papa” Pilgrim, was ordered Friday to pay a $310 fine for trespass and vandalism for attempting last summer to enter his family’s Mother Lode mine. But Judge John Roberts commented, “The government needs to consider going the extra mile to resolve the dispute with your neighbor. I think the NPS (National Park Service) should want to avoid getting a reputation as a bully.”


The NPS had wanted a $3,000 fine. Two NPS rangers had been staking out the mine entrance waiting for the Pilgrims to enter their mine via its only access, the Polk 1601 adit (tunnel) which opens on NPS land.


NPS prosecutor Chandra Postma portrayed Joseph as a wealthy man—a big land owner and a business man with clients—and that he wasn’t confused about his rights but acted “boldly, brazenly, arrogantly” and at substantial risk to the public. “This is a defendant that thinks the rules don’t apply to him. The Court needs to send a strong message that they do. A $3,000 fine is appropriate.”


The judge asked questions of the prosecution that indicate key points were apparently troubling him. The first was about the Hale v. Norton case brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation against the NPS over its blockage of the road to the Pilgrim property, “Will the civil action before Judge Beistline likely resolve the title to the adit?”
(snip)

In an interesting twist, Joseph Pilgrim was elected the next day by the District 6 Republican convention in Delta Junction as a delegate to the state convention in Soldotna, meeting May 20.
(snip)

http://www.mccarthy-kennicott.com/MJ2004/page2.html



Papa Pilgrim found in Anchorage suburb

05:50 2005-10-06
A man accused of molesting one of his 15 children while his family lived inside a national park was captured Wednesday more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from his home.

Robert Hale, known as Papa Pilgrim, had been on the run for nearly two weeks after being indicted on 30 felony counts, including sexual assault, kidnapping and incest, state troopers said. The indictment listed just one victim.

Hale, 64, was taken into custody in Eagle River, an Anchorage suburb, telling officers he knew he was being sought and would not cause any trouble, trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said.

Hale was near an Alaska Railroad gate in the camper van troopers say was missing from his campsite inside Wrangell-St. Elias National Park when they tried to arrest him Sept. 23.

Authorities said the abuse of a daughter occurred over an eight-year span, but culminated in January when Hale locked her in a shed for several days.
(snip/...)

http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/06/64557.html

[damntexdem]

15. Well, then, I guess that gods will ...

as gods will.

[TomInTib]

9. Goodness, that is one weird article.

You just cannot make up crap such as that.

[BattyDem]

10. "always bathed with their clothes on"

Ooooooookay. :eyes: How ridiculously repressed does a person have to be to forbid their child to see their own naked body?! How the f*ck can you possibly bathe with your clothes on? Were they born with clothes on, too? :shrug:

So ... yet another "ultra-strict Christian" is a perv. This doesn't even shock me anymore ... and that's sad.

[rfranklin]

11. did they shit in their drawers too?

and piss their pants?

[Phredicles]

16. There's a Simpsons episode where Ned Flanders does this,

"So I won't see my own shrinky-dink". At the time I thought the gag too over-the-top. Now...:scared:

[BattyDem]

24. LOL... I forgot about that!

:rofl:

[tabasco]

12. A total loser.

No respect for Nature; no respect for children; complete and utter waste of oxygen.

[damntexdem]

13. Well, what's the use of being a backwoods celebrity ...

if'n ya can't rape a daughter or two?

Yeah, there's obviously sumpin' in that there home schoolin'.

[Blue Gardener]

17. Wow

What a lunatic. Was that a picture of their home? How can you fit that many people in that dinky shack?

[warrens]

18. You know, this stuff is getting SO PREDICTABLE

The more holier than thou they are, the more likely they are to be a pervert, hypocrite or both.

[rebel with a cause]

25. Or.................

The more one obsesses on deviant behavior, the more apt one is to be drawn into it. :evilgrin:

[Toucano]

26. Or perhaps the more zealous the religious fervor, the more

mentally ill and likely they are ot harm themselves or others.

When will we simply recognize that religious fanaticism is a mental illness?

[NorthernSpy]

19. "Papa Pilgrim" is actually from an affluent family in Texas...

Hale (Papa Pilgrim Pervert) called his Alaska compound "Hillbilly Heaven". But with his country club upbringing and a father in the FBI, Hale wasn't really a hillbilly at all.



Lots of interesting details at http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/pilgrims/story/8514719p-8407713c.html

[rebel with a cause]

28. He grew up in Texas. Huhhhhhhh?

Sorry anyone from Texas, just thinking of the bush and his mindset.

[depakid]

20. What a bizarre story

A fitting end that this guy will die in prison. Sounds like it was long overdue.

[Cronus Protagonist]

21. Another heterosexual rapist caught

Something needs to be done about these people.

[maxsolomon]

22. NPD and abuse

it will take generations to heal that family.

nice work, papa sociopath.

[Redstone]

23. About fucking time.

Redstone

[Toucano]

27. Can we please, please PLEASE stone him?

A nice Biblical punishment would be so fitting!

[Scairp]

29. Wow

And people have the nerve to make jokes about these kinds of things happening Appalachia. Guess what, perversion isn't limited to one particular geographic area. I hope those who have made disparaging remarks about my birth state, Kentucky, will issue some kind of apology, but I won't hold my breath waiting for it.

[maxsolomon]

30. the hillbilly comments continue apace, though

appalachians are the last ethnic group it's ok to to openly disparage with slurs.

however, i grew up in Cincy, and i won't be apologizing to Kentucky! too many run-ins with the sons of appalachia wanting to beat my ass for my fancy book learnin'.

[Raine]

31. Wow that is so WEIRD

it's hard to believe people like that exist in 21st century America. :wow: