A former St. Luke United Methodist youth pastor plead guilty to second-degree rape in Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley's courtroom Jan. 16.
Twenty-five-year-old Timothy Thomas was arrested in March 2013 after investigators with the Enterprise Police Department uncovered evidence that Thomas was having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student.
District Judge Paul Sherling set Thomas' bond at $30,000, which was later revoked in April after Thomas broke conditions of his bond by communicating with the victim.
During the Jan. 16 court hearing, Thomas was present with his attorney Warren Rowe, and the state was represented by Assistant District Attorney Chris Kaminski.
After entering his guilty plea, Kelley sentenced Thomas to eight years of incarceration.
The sentence was split with three years to serve in the Coffee County Jail.
Thomas was given credit for his time served, which has been 283 days.
The balance of his sentence will be served at the Coffee County Jail and the remaining balance is suspended.
Thomas' release date will be March 7, 2016, and he must report to a probation office within three days of his release.
When released, Thomas will be placed on active supervised probation for two years and will have to comply with the requirements of the Community Notification Act as a convicted sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Thomas will be responsible for paying a $750 bond fee and a victim's compensation fee.
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