JACKSONVILLE (FL)
WJAX-TV [Jacksonville, FL]
December 11, 2025
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One of three men arrested for sexual assault at a Jacksonville church has pleaded guilty three years after being arrested.
Jerome Teschendorf, 71, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in the Florida State Prison system, to be followed by five years of probation.
Teschendorf pleaded guilty just under a week ago to one of the four counts of sexual battery against him, crossing out “because I am guilty” on the court document and writing in “best interest.”
He will also be designated a sexual predator, court documents show.
Action News Jax first told you in March 2022 when Teschendorf, Paul Dyal Vernon Williamson were arrested in connection with what police called decades of physical and sexual abuse at the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ Church.
In May, Dyal, now 82, pleaded guilty to child abuse and was sentenced to five years of probation, avoiding prison time.
That case was resolved in that manner because the victim did not want to take part in further court proceedings, the State Attorney’s Office said.
Williamson, now 89, was sentenced to life in prison in April 2024.