In a meek,

almost undetectable voice, Edward Wayne Ferguson admitted in court Monday

that he molested 12 young boys whom he supervised through the Peachtree

City Fire Department's Explorer program while serving as a volunteer firefighter.

When District

Attorney William McBroom asked Ferguson if he indeed molested the victims,

Ferguson replied in a whisper, "Yes, sir."

Ferguson pled

guilty to a host of related charges in court Monday morning as victims

and their families looked on. Superior Court Judge Christopher C. Edwards

sentenced Ferguson to 20 years in prison followed by another 10 years

of intensive probation.

Edwards noted

that once on probation, Ferguson will be subject to a search of his person,

property or belongings at any time upon the request of a law enforcement

officer; that is one of the conditions of his probation. He must also

meet other probation conditions specifically designed for persons convicted

of sex offenses, Edwards said.

The plea agreement

came the day before Ferguson's case was to go to trial. Although he pled

guilty to 17 charges, prosecutors agreed to drop 12 counts of enticing

a child for indecent purposes.

Ferguson pled

guilty to nine counts of child molestation, four counts of the sexual

exploitation of children, three counts of criminal attempt to commit child

molestation and one count of sexual battery.

The alleged

incidents occurred at Ferguson's trailer at the Shiloh Mobile Home Park,

where he lured the boys under the guise of teaching them wrestling moves,

McBroom said. A videotape found during a search warrant executed on Ferguson's

residence depicted him molesting three of the victims, the prosecutor

added.

The case broke

last spring when one of the victims complained to his family about the

abuse, McBroom said.

McBroom indicated

that all the victims and their families had been made aware of the sentence

from the plea agreement.

Judge Edwards

asked if anyone wanted to comment about the sentence being too harsh before

he signed off on the proposal, and a father of one of the victims addressed

the court.

The father

told Edwards that he and his wife felt the sentence was too lenient, but

they preferred the case be closed instead of forcing their son to testify

and relive the event.

"Twenty

years to me and my wife does not seem near enough," the man said.

"However, I am willing to accept it if he does not have to testify.

I do not know if these scars will ever go away."

Edwards noted

that had he opted for a harsher sentence, Ferguson could have rejected

the plea and opted for a jury trial instead. But he would "have a

grave reservation about proceeding" with the plea arrangement if

serious objections had been raised.

"I hear

that you want this to happen and you want this to be over today,"

Edwards said.