A Vermont federal court judge has sentenced a Mennonite pastor to 27 months in prison for helping a woman flee the country rather than share custody of her daughter with her former lesbian partner, but he remains free while he appeals.
Pastor Kenneth Miller, of Stuarts Draft, Va., was convicted last summer on a charge of aiding in international parental kidnapping. He received his sentence Monday.
Miller told the court in a letter that western society is seeking to re-engineer and redefine marriage. He says he helped Lisa Miller and her daughter leave the country in 2009 after the woman begged him for help.
Lisa Miller and her daughter are believed to still be hiding in Nicaragua.
The pastor is not related to Lisa Miller.