There's an old saying that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. Yet this isn't always true. Look at Tommy Wallis in Lauderdale who stalked his male victim for a week before attacking him, but whose case was no-billed. Tommy went on to big-time drug smuggling and a heinous attempt to kill his wife. He's now serving a life sentence in an Alabama state prison. Then there's Gerald Surratt Jr. who sexually assaulted a young woman in Sheffield, but was similarly no-billed by a Colbert grand jury. Surratt is now serving time in prison, not for his many alleged sex crimes, but for theft.
Now consider this case: A 19 year old man takes a 14 year old girl to a public park restroom where he videos several sex acts between them. He then forwards the video to some of his friends. When the child's family is made aware of the incident, the young man is arrested in Franklin County.
Was the girl a total innocent? Probably not. Was the 19 year old man, a college student, aware that what he was doing was wrong on so many levels? You have to believe that he was. Our guess is that he felt himself above the law as so many of our readers do.
Before you say that at least this Bible college star athlete finally got his comeuppance, you may want to hear the rest of the story.
Terry Landon Stidham first made the news just over three years ago:
From 10/3/18 Franklin County Times -
The article goes on to say that Stidham posted 200K bond at the time of his arrest. Since he was a resident of Marion County, we may assume the bond was in cash or its equivalent. Read: Stidham's family has money.
Were there more details to the story? Yes. From a 10/4/18 Pen-N-Sword article -
Terry Landon Stidham is a 19 year old graduate of Hamilton High School where he starred on the basketball court wearing jersey #4. At 6'3", Landon may not have been the tallest player on the team, but he caught the eye of a Welch College coach who boasted of recruiting him for the Free Will Baptist institution located in Gallatin, Tennessee.
Landon graduated in 2017, but it wasn't until June 2018 that the Welch coach tweeted the Hamilton youth would be joining his older brother at Welch. We may not know all that Landon accomplished during this gap year, but we do know that authorities in Russellville claim the scholar-athlete had a very interesting hobby.
Stidham's athletic skills also included tennis, and he is accused of participating in several felonious sex acts at the Russellville Tennis Complex. He is alleged to have met a 14 year old girl whom he took to the restrooms at the complex. There he encouraged the young teen to perform oral sex and to engage in intercourse while he videoed their illicit encounter.
Landon was apparently proud of his skill at photography, sending the video to several other underage girls. When Landon's victim became aware of the notoriety her liaison with Landon was receiving, she told her parents who reported the encounter to Russellville police.
Authorities obtained a warrant for Landon's mobile carrier, matching him to the number disseminating what is legally child pornography. When confronted by his actions, Landon refused to speak with investigators. He was arrested in late September and charged with Second Degree Rape, Second Degree Sodomy, and the Manufacture, Distribution, & Possession of Child Pornography.
Landon's family quickly posted 200K bond, and the former high school basketball standout remains free at this time. If convicted of the numerous sex charges, Terry Landon Stidham could face up to 20 years in prison and be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. There's no word if Welch College has kept open a position as forward for Stidham or if they now find Landon just a little too forward for their Freewill Baptist college.
So how long did it take to indict and try Stidham for charges lodged almost 18 months before COVID slowed down the system? More to the point, why is this blog reporting on Stidham's alleged sexual antics three years later?
Never heard of the Ramp? Rest assured you are not alone. According to its website, the Ramp Church was founded in Hamilton, Alabama, and has branches in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Manchester, England. Its website has photos of generic teens/young adults who appear to be auditioning for a GAP magazine ad, rock bands, one-armed Hitler salutes, and two-armed stand and deliver gestures. In other words, it's very similar to the Church of the Highlands.
Here's a surprise - they also have a store where you can purchase everything from self-help books to mugs to apparel. An example of their cutting edge design tees:
The Ramp also has a school in Hamilton, a college of sorts. Its two-year program promises to equip today's youth to conquer the world with the gospel, at least the gospel according to the Ramp. The church and school appear to be non-denominational, probably with good reason. Who are its students and recent graduates?
One May graduate is known to us at the blog; he's Terry Landon Stidham. No, Stidham isn't in prison for his videoed sex crimes against a 14 year-old girl; he's now a Ramper grad doing Ramper things. How did this miscarriage of justice happen?
Indictments after an arrest can take months in many Alabama counties. This is especially true in Franklin County. It's easy to lose track of various crimes while assuming the cases are still floating around somewhere in the criminal justice system.
In Landon Stidham's case, it took 11 months for Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing to present the state's case against the 19 year-old Hamilton youth. With actual video of the crime, the indictment should have been a slam dunk, but strangely it wasn't.
Stidham's sex charges were no-billed. Why? Were palms crossed with silver or did the rural Franklin County jurors think the promiscuous 14 year-old girl got just what she deserved? Either way, the system failed. There was no "He said; she said." There was actual video of the sex acts taking place in a smelly public restroom. Apparently Landon didn't think his victim deserved even the back seat of a Buick.
Landon Stidham was a totally free man after September 2019, or roughly two years ago. Why is this news now?
Last week, a letter from a man purporting to be an employee of the Hamilton Journal Record began to make the rounds. It didn't take too much digging to ascertain that this "Shane" wasn't connected to the Marion County newspaper, but was actually Landon's father. The letter was asking that all negative reports about Landon's illegal sexcapades be removed from the Internet.
Why after two years is Landon's family now revealing to the press that the young man's case was dropped due to lack of an indictment? What has Landon been doing in the intervening years between his arrest and now?
In March 2019, months before the charges were dropped, Stidham coached for the Krossover Basketball Association in Cullman. He was billed as a former Welch Freewill Baptist College player at that time. Then at some point, he enrolled in the Ramp College in Hamilton where he spent two years before graduating last May.
Perhaps since this graduation, Terry Landon Stidham has found it difficult to secure a position in the real world. This would explain his family's nefarious attempt to have his record wiped clean of the videoed sex incident.
News flash: Sending out letters using false credentials is not the best way to establish any Christian credibility. Let's also go on record that we hope any young ladies who cross Stidham's path will have the common sense to give a hard pass on this sadly unpunished sex offender.
