A Texarkana, Texas, man was sentenced to 50 years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing four girls for years.
Timothy Paul Wilder, 64, pleaded guilty to three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Wilder appeared with Texarkana attorney John Pickett before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said there is no parole possible for a defendant convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child so Wilder will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Crisp said Wilder gained access to the girls he abused because he was the pastor of a small church they attended in Texarkana, Texas, and because his wife was related to them. According to a probable cause affidavit, Wilder gave the girls gifts, toys, candy and fast food and often praised their hair.
Each of the victims was abused over a period of years beginning as early as 2008 for one victim and ending in 2015 for another.
The girls were abused from about age 6 to age 12.
Crisp said she is relieved that the young victims will not have to testify in front of a jury. Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards read statements written by two of the girls. Pickett read a statement from Wilder apologizing to the victims.
“They needed this to be over,” Crisp said.
