COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- The former principal of a Lutheran school in Cobb County pleaded guilty Monday to molesting three boys.
Jack Duane Hibbs, 58, entered his plea shortly before jury selection was scheduled to begin for his trial. He was convicted of four counts of aggravated child molestation, three counts of child molestation and one count of sexual exploitation of children. Two counts of enticing a child were dismissed.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Poole sentenced Hibbs to life in prison. He must serve 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
"The evil that has come through is just horrendous," Poole told Hibbs. "You hunted some of (the victims) down and robbed them of their innocence. You cannot be trusted. No one else needs to worry you're going to harm their children."
Hibbs was the longtime principal of Faith Lutheran Church and School on Lower Roswell Road in East Cobb. According to the investigation, he molested three boys between 2011 and 2013. Some of the acts were committed at the school.
One of Hibbs' victims, who was 15 years old at the time, told police he was also molested in his own home.
"A church and school is supposed to be a sacred place. A boy's body is a sacred place," Cobb County ADA Lindsay Gardner said in court. "The evidence in this case has captured the pain and suffering of these boys and their families. (Hibbs has) given every one of these victims a life sentence, and the only way to deter this predator is to confine him as long as possible."
