Cliff Kirkland sentenced to decades in prison for molesting 3 girls. ‘You took their youth.’
A jury deliberated for just over two hours Wednesday before convicting a former longtime Biloxi businessman and journalist of molesting three young girls for years.
Fredrick Cliff Kirkland, 69, stood with attorney Keith Pisarich as the verdict was read aloud.
Kirkland, wearing a tan suit, did not express any emotion as the jury found him guilty on nine counts of touching a child for lustful purposes. He nodded to his family as he was escorted out of the courtroom by two Harrison County sheriff’s deputies.
Judge Larry Bourgeois sentenced Kirkland to a total of 35 years in prison. He will not be eligible for early release and will have to serve the time day for day as a convicted sex offender.
Behind Kirkland sat his daughter and son; his son-in-law; one of his granddaughters; his sister, Nancy Boney, and her husband, retired Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney; his ex-wife, Bonnie McNeal, and a few friends.
Kirkland’s son, Paul Kirkland, and McNeal spoke on Kirkland’s behalf before sentencing. Two victims also told the jury about the impact that the years of sex abuse had on their lives. Assistant District Attorney Allison Baker read one of the victim’s statements to the court.
The three young girls were emotional as the sentence was read, with many in the court wiping away tears while sobbing.
Their parents sat beside the girls, along with other supporters, including a group of Biloxi police investigators.
From 2013 to 2017, Kirkland molested the victims at different times on various occasions on a pull-out couch in his makeshift apartment upstairs at his Thomas Street home.
A victim who spoke before sentencing told the court she developed severe anxiety and two eating disorders because Kirkland would often comment on her weight.
She said she started cutting herself as a way to relieve her emotional pain from the sexual abuse She also had to quit her job in child care because she could not handle seeing grandfathers near Kirkland’s age pick up their grandchildren.
“He manipulated me so much that what he was doing to me was all I knew for 10 years,” the victim said in court.
Assistant District Attorney Alison Baker also addressed the judge before sentencing.
“These girls have been through an absolutely excruciating nine to 10 years,” Baker said. “When they could no longer be silent, they did the right thing by coming forward. They have been filled with guilt for not coming forward before.
“What this journey will do is teach them resilience to be compassionate toward others, and, I hope eventually it will make them stronger.”
Bourgeois addressed Kirkland before handing down his sentence.
“The children are our future,” he said. “They are an integral part of the fabric of our community, this Coast, this state and this country. Without them, we are barren and we have nowhere to go. Nowhere.”
Bourgeois told the court he believes the former top Biloxi official doesn’t realize the impact he had on the victims.
“You took their youth, took their innocence,” he said. “They may not have physical injuries that he inflicted upon them, but they suffered damage at your hand. There’s a price to pay for that.”
Earlier Wednesday during closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney George Huffman talked about how uncomfortable it made him to even talk about the sexual abuse Kirkland had put the three girls through for years.
He said he then started to imagine just how hard it had to be for the girls when they finally sat down with their parents and loved ones to tell them about how a then 61-year-old powerful Biloxi businessman, public relations guru and journalist had been molesting them for years.
And Huffman went over in his mind how one of the girls came home from school one day in 2019 and took a ride with her mom to a nearby dog park, where she sat and shared, through tears, that her former best friend’s grandfather had molested her time after time after time.
After thinking about all those hardships the girls had to endure, Huffman said, “suddenly it doesn’t matter what my comfort level is” when it comes to talking about the abuse.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 4:06 PM.
