By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 70-year-old Birmingham man will spend the next few years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony first-degree sodomy charge involving an underage Maylene victim.

Morgan Blackerby, who lists an address on 28^th Street North in Birmingham, pleaded guilty to first-degree sodomy involving a victim younger than 12 during a late-October hearing in front of Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Lara Alvis.

Alvis originally sentenced Blackerby to 20 years in prison, but split the sentence to five years in prison followed by two years of supervised probation. Blackerby, who must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, received 1,079 days of jail credit for time already served in the Shelby County Jail.

If Blackerby violates the conditions of his sentence, his entire 20-year prison term could be reinstated.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office arrested Blackerby on the charge in November 2015, and said the charges stemmed from an incident involving one of Blackerby’s child relatives at a Maylene residence in 2013.

The family originally did not report the abuse in February 2013. The case was brought to the SCSO by the Department of Human Resources on Aug. 18.

According to the Oct. 9 indictment, Blackerby engaged in “deviate sexual intercourse” with the child victim in February 2013, resulting in the first-degree sodomy charge.