A Blount County jury has convicted a 58-year-old former church youth director of sexually abusing three boys who once belonged to his youth group, delivering a verdict decades after the alleged crimes began. Thomas Randall Hosmer, of Cullman, was found guilty of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sex abuse following a trial that began Monday before Circuit Judge Greg Reid.
According to AL.com, the jury convicted Hosmer of four counts of first-degree sodomy and four counts of first-degree sex abuse. The three men who testified said Hosmer sexually assaulted them when they were children, abusing and sodomizing boys ranging in age from 10 to 12, and all three had met Hosmer at Cedar Grove Church in Bangor. Two of the witnesses said the abuse took place in Hosmer's home, while one testified it happened on at least two church camping trips.
Court testimony described the abuse in disturbing detail. One boy was tied to a bed and sexually assaulted to the point of injury, and was also beaten with a razor strap or bamboo stick, per the same report. Another boy was assaulted after waking up, the outlet reported.
A Case Years in the Making
Hosmer was arrested by the Blount County Sheriff's Office in January 2024 after the three men reported the alleged abuse to Sgt. Ed Hull, and he was initially charged with 10 felony counts — six counts of first-degree sodomy by force and four counts of first-degree sexual abuse by force — according to an earlier al.com report. His bond was set at $250,000, and a judge denied his request for a bond reduction in May 2024, with an Aniah's Law bond hearing scheduled for later that month.
At the time, prosecutors said the alleged abuse took place from the mid-to-late 1990s through the mid-2000s, while more recent reporting on the conviction places the abuse between 1992 and 2005 — the two accounts differ slightly on the exact span. Then-assistant district attorney Scott Gilliland argued in 2024 that Hosmer used his role as a church youth director to gain access to the boys and manipulate them into believing no one would believe them if they spoke out.
Prosecutors Reflect on a Decades-Long Wait for Justice
District Attorney Pamela Casey said Hosmer began preying upon children more than 30 years ago and kept his crimes hidden for decades, according to the same report. Casey said the victims carried the weight of that abuse for years before coming forward to confront their childhood trauma and testify in court.
“Justice delayed is not always justice denied — especially when it comes to prosecuting those who sexually abuse children,” Casey said. She commended Assistant District Attorneys Scott Gilliland and Patrick Hubauer along with Sgt. Ed Hull for their work on the case.
Hosmer was booked into the Blount County Jail following his conviction and is now awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for January 2027. The case adds to a pattern AL.com has documented among Alabama churches, where the outlet previously reported that at least 22 Alabama Baptist ministers have faced sex-crime charges since 1998.
