CATLETTSBURG — An Ashland man found guilty last month of being a serial child abuser will most likely die in prison.

However, in the unlikely event that he is still alive at the end of his sentence, Howard R. Bryan will have to spend an additional six months in the lockup.

Bryan’s behavior at his final sentencing Thursday prompted Boyd Circuit Judge Marc I. Rosen to impose a half-year sentence for contempt of court — to be served at the end of Bryan’s 70-year term for rape, assault and other crimes.

Bryan, 53, was openly hostile and argumentative throughout the proceeding, lashing out verbally at the judge, his attorney, Richard Hughes, and his victims.

He leveled a variety of accusations at Hughes, assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Reese, who prosecuted the case, and Rosen, angrily maintaining that he was an innocent man who was being railroaded.

He frequently spoke out of turn, despite being admonished several times not to do so.

He interrupted his children as they were addressing the court regarding the impact their father’s abuse had had on their lives.

He even claimed that he couldn’t have raped one of his daughters because she’d consented to have sex with him — a claim the daughter forcefully denied during her statement to the court.

Bryan continued to make sarcastic comments even as Rosen was preparing to pronounce his final sentence. By that point, the judge had had enough.

“I’ve been on the bench for 18 years and I’ve had all manner of cases come before me,” Rosen said. “But I have not in my 18 years seen a defendant who has been as defiant as you have been.”

As he was being led out of the courtroom in shackles, Bryan looked back over his shoulder and sneered at the judge: “I ain’t afraid of you!”

Bryan’s children all said that their father going to prison meant they no longer had to live their lives in fear, and that they felt overwhelming relief in knowing that he could no longer harm them.

The Independent does not normally identify the victims of sex crimes. However, Bryan’s daughters, Julia Bryan, 25, and Rene Bryan, 24, both of whom were sexually molested by their father, gave the newspaper permission to use their names and to photograph them.

Additionally, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in whose custody two of the victims who are minors have been placed, gave consent for them to be identified by the media.

The two boys, Jasper Bryan, 15, and Christopher Bryan, 17, both addressed the court, as did their sisters. A fifth victim, Bruce Bryan, was in the courtroom, but opted to not speak.

In an interview outside the courthouse, Rene Bryan said her father would use psychological intimidation and physical threats to keep her and her siblings under his control.

“He used to tell us that little girls come up missing all the time, and that it could easily happen to us,” he said.

Julia Bryan said the horrors that Howard Bryan visited upon his children “would make Charles Manson look like a saint.”

Julia Bryan said she and her siblings remained close-knit and were doing their best to put their father’s abuse behind them so they can move on with their lives.

“It’s going to take awhile, but I think we can do it,” she said. “We’re not going to give him the satisfaction of us being miserable.”

Howard Bryan’s father, Howard S. Bryan Jr. of Worthington, also condemned his son for his crimes.

“It’s awful to have worked your whole life to raise a child and to have it turn out like this,” he said.

Howard Bryan’s mistreatment of his children came to light in 2005, after Julia Bryan was hospitalized with injuries from a severe beating. Personnel at King’s Daughters Medical Center contacted the Ashland Police Department, which launched an investigation that resulted in Bryan’s indictment.

Bryan was convicted following a six-day jury trial during which all five of his children testified against him. Reese, the assistant prosecutor who handled the case, praised the victims’ bravery for coming forward against their father.

“I want to applaud these kids,” he said. “They have done a great job of surviving.”

The jury found Bryan guilty of 22 criminal charges, including rape, assault, kidnapping and wanton endangerment. Jurors recommended that he serve a sentence of 285 years. However, under Kentucky, the maximum term of years a defendant can be sentenced to is 70.

Bryan indicated several times during his sentencing hearing that he intends to appeal his conviction.

Because his crimes are classified as violent offenses, Bryan will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible to meet with the parole board. He has credit for the year he has already spent in the Boyd County Detention Center, meaning he will have to serve about 58 1/2 years before becoming eligible for parole consideration.

Additionally, Bryan will have to undergo sex offender treatment in prison and accept responsibility for his crimes before he can be considered for parole.

And, he will still to have serve his six-month contempt sentence.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.