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A Selma man who was convicted of the rape and sodomy of an elementary school student in 1999 was denied parole by the Alabama Board Pardons and Parole.

The board held a hearing on March 27 to see whether they will grant parole to Andrew Smitherman, 66, who was convicted of sodomy first degree and rape first degree in January 1999.

Minutes from the parole board hearing indicated that two people spoke on behalf of Smitherman. The first was Joseph Smitherman, the defendant’s brother. The second was Cynthia Carpenter, the defendant’s niece.

The only speaker against parole Sarah Deneve, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

The board voted to deny parole with a reset date of March 2030.

Circuit Judge Tommy Jones sentenced Smitherman, according to a Jan. 14, 1999, news story in the Selma Times-Journal, 20 years on the sodomy charge and 50 years on the rape charge.

Both sentences are running concurrently.  The Alabama Department of Corrections lists his release date as Sept. 18, 2048.

Then District Attorney Ed Greene asked the judge for a stiff penalty.

“We asked the court to impose a substantial sentence,” Greene said in the Jan. 14, 1999, story. “We pointed out the child is still in counseling, therapy. This is something that apparently will be with her for the rest of her life.”