GRAY, Ga. — A former Jones County teacher is headed to prison after pleading guilty to child molestation on Monday.
That plea comes from a six-count indictment returned by a grand jury in May against Witcher Tate Wilson.
Wilson received a 30-year sentence with the first 15 years in confinement, sex offender conditions and requirement that he surrender his teaching certificate.
The indictment said Wilson, a seventh grade English/Language Arts teacher, molested four male students under the age of 16 at Clifton Ridge Middle School between Oct. 2018 and late January 2019.
In a February bond hearing, Wilson’s wife, Christina, took the stand and testified that they had two children with special needs, and one of them had recently died from cancer at the age of 19. She said many of his students and members of the Jones County community supported him.
Lt. Kenny Gleaton said 20 middle-school boys reported Wilson had inappropriate sexual conversations with them.
Of those 20, four of the boys told investigators that Wilson had touched them inappropriately. One said Wilson exposed himself, and another said Wilson touched his genitals directly.
"[A student] stated that Mr. Wilson told him not to tell, quote, 'It's technically molesting,'" Gleaton said.
Judge Brenda Trammell denied bond, saying she thought Wilson posed a threat of witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.
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