The patriarch of a wilderness family, known as ``Papa Pilgrim,'' has withdrawn a no-contest plea to charges of rape, kidnapping and incest.

Now, prosecutors will likely consolidate the charges against Robert Hale and recommend a 14-year prison sentence.

Hale's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Glennallen.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Hale appeared gaunt and frail in court on Thursday. He arrived in a wheelchair.

Several years ago, Hale moved his family of 17 to a homestead near McCarthy. There, he got into a widely publicized spat with rangers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park over an access road he bulldozed to his property.

Hale said he wanted to raise his children in a Bible-centered world, away from civilization.

In October 2005, he was indicted on 30 counts of rape, incest, coercion, kidnapping and assault for crimes against one of his daughters, committed between 1998 and 2005.

He ran from law enforcement for two weeks before he was taken into custody.

(Associated Press)