Former rector gets jail sentence

Former St. Mary's Episcopal Church rector Jim Carlton Wooldridge, 62, was sentenced to three years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division following a hearing before 27th Judicial District Court Judge Joe Carroll Wednesday afternoon.

Wooldridge, represented by attorneys Eddie Shell of Marble Falls and Richard Hammett, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact. He waived his right to a jury trial and an appeal as part of a plea bargain. He also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

Wooldridge faced a range of punishment of not less than two years to not more than 20 years and fines up to $20,000.

A number of character witnesses testified on behalf of Wooldridge, while Lampasas County Attorney Larry Allison had the two sexual assault victims and their mothers on the stand for questioning.

After the hearing, Wooldridge was immediately taken into custody and booked into the Lampasas County Jail to await transfer to the state facility.

A complete report of the trial's proceedings will appear next week in the Lampasas Dispatch Record.