Bermudian bishop's son Orlando Outerbridge received a 17-year jail term over a probation order violation, The Royal Gazette learned yesterday.

The 25-year-old was also ordered by a Florida judge to spend ten years on probation after his prison sentence.

Outerbridge, son of Bishop Vernon Outerbridge, had been placed on probation in 1992 over two serious sex allegations.

He was found to have violated the probation order when he was arrested in 1995 for allegedly assaulting a Policeman.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Tonya Rainwater in the 18th circuit court in Brevard County in Florida.

Outerbridge is now in a Brevard county detention centre awaiting trial on further charges.

He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer.

And he has denied the aggravated assault on his girlfriend, Pauline Burgess.

Yesterday Mrs. Nancy Bailey, secretary of Assistant State Attorney David Arthur in Brevard County, said a trial date had been set for next week.

But she said the hearing was unlikely to go ahead because of a crowded court calendar.

"A bunch of other cases are ahead of it, so the next trial period will probably be in May.'' Mrs. Bailey said Outerbridge could face a maximum 30-year jail sentence for the assault charges because of his record.

According to a spokeswoman for Brevard County Clerk of Court, it was on June 25, 1992, Outerbridge received a prison term and probation for two sex offences.

He was convicted of sexual battery of a victim over 12 and engaging in sexual activity with a child between 12 and 18 under family custody.

The offences were said to have occurred in Brevard County.

Last month, on March 11 and 12, Judge Rainwater, in a circuit court in Brevard's Moore Justice Centre, found Outerbridge guilty of violating the probation order.

The Brevard County Clerk of Court spokeswoman said Judge Rainwater revoked the original probation order and replaced it with a new one for ten years.

The probation order violation -- which Outerbridge had denied -- related to an incident last year.

Outerbridge was shot four times in 1995 by Florida Police after an alleged argument with his girlfriend.

Officers in the city of Melbourne said he was armed with a knife when they were called to an incident last November.

Police claim he lunged at one of the Policemen, who opened fire, wounding Outerbridge in the shoulder, back, right arm and chest. An investigation was launched into the incident and the officer who fired the shots, Patrolman Vince Esposito, was given leave from duty.

Outerbridge -- who lives in Florida -- was later released from Melbourne's Palm Bay Community Hospital.

BERMUDIAN BDA