COVINGTON, Ky. — Timmy Goodman faced his abuser in a Kenton County courtroom, marking the fourth time the 21-year-old publicly recounted the trauma of crimes spanning years and counties.
Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Lape accepted a plea agreement in which Howard pleaded guilty to all six counts against him, including four counts of sodomy and two counts of sexual abuse, in exchange for a 15-year sentence behind bars.
The crimes started in 2019 when Goodman was 14 years old. Though Goodman and his family claim Howard began grooming him before then, Howard was not charged with that predatory behavior because it is not currently illegal in Kentucky. A local lawmaker is working to change that.
"This isn't a sin that he was just tapping into. This wasn't the kind of thing where one day he just slipped up. He is a pedophile. There's something chemically wrong in his brain that made him think that this was normal, okay, perfectly acceptable," Timmy Goodman said.
Goodman's parents also gave emotional impact statements, speaking about the emotional turmoil Howard's actions caused for their family. Tim Goodman, Timmy Goodman's father, showed pictures in court to illustrate the timeline of the abuse.
"These are pictures of when Timmy was 13, when the grooming started, 14 when the sexual messages started and 15 when the abuse started," Tim Goodman said. "This was a child. This man, for 2,000 days, abused my son."
WATCH: Former church music director receives fourth sentence for the same crimes against the same victim.
Howard served as music director at the Boone County church the Goodman family attended. Howard and his wife employed Timmy Goodman at their furniture store. The two families were also close, often vacationing together in Florida.
Goodman's mother broke down in tears Wednesday, telling the court that some of the abuse happened inside the walls of her own Kenton County home.
"This was supposed to be the place where Timmy was safest," Julia Goodman said. "Michael used our friendship as a key to enter our house and turn our home into a place of trauma."
Wednesday marked Howard's fourth sentencing for the same crimes committed against Timmy Goodman. Because Northern Kentucky prosecutors said the years of sexual abuse occurred in four counties — Kenton, Carroll, Owen and Boone — Howard was charged, convicted and sentenced in those communities too.
"What you did is horrific," Judge Kathleen Lape said to Howard. "15 years is not enough."
We covered Howard's first sentencing in Boone County, when a judge accepted a plea agreement, sentencing Howard to 15 years in exchange for his pleading guilty to 28 counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sodomy.
During that January sentencing, Howard addressed the court, though he did not include an apology in his nearly six-minute statement. He spent most of his time speaking about his faith and how he found redemption over the past year.
"This should have never happened. I would have never dreamed this would happen. I'm a man that stands here needing forgiveness," Howard said at the January sentencing. "I'm a saved man. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ as a young kid. ... I stand before this court today knowing that I'm born again."
Both Owen and Carroll County judges also handed down 15-year sentences in line with offers deemed "in the best interest" of the victim. Because of the agreement, Howard's sentences will run concurrently, resulting in a total of 15 years behind bars.
He will be eligible for parole after serving 85% of his sentence, meaning he could be released from state prison in 12.5 years.
