Former Enterprise Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty to Rape
By Matt Elofson
A former Enterprise youth pastor received an eight-year split sentence with three years to serve in jail after he pleaded guilty to the rape of a teenage girl. Assistant Coffee County District Attorney Chris Kamanski said Timothy Thomas, 26, pleaded guilty to a felony second-degree rape charge. Kamanski said Thomas received an eight-year split with three years to serve in the Coffee County Jail. Kamanski said Thomas has already served about 280 days in jail waiting for trial. “He’ll serve what he doesn’t have credit for day for day at the county jail,” Kamanski said. “He was the youth pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church, and of course he’s no longer employed there.” Enterprise police arrested Thomas in March of 2013 on the second-degree rape charge. Enterprise police said the rape occurred between Feb. 28 and March 18, 2013. St. Luke United Methodist Church Pastor Dric Williford told the Dothan Eagle shortly after Thomas’ arrest they terminated him from working at the church following his arrest because of misconduct with a minor. Kamanski said Thomas had initially posted his bail after police arrested him, but it was later revoked after authorities discovered Thomas had sent sexual text messages to the alleged victim. Kamanski also said upon Thomas’ release from jail he’ll be required to register as a sex offender. “This is the first time that I’ve ever seen, certainly not in this office, where somebody took advantage of a leadership position like that,” Kamanski said. Contact: @ElofsonMatt.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.