He could face between eight and 12 years behind bars.

Former Columbia pastor David Lynn Zeigler was found guilty of rape of a mentally challenged teen last week, and he faces between 8-12 years imprisonment.

The trial began Monday, Sept. 19, with the verdict handed down Thursday, Sept. 22. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, District Attorney of the 22nd District Brent Cooper said.

“He was found guilty of rape,” Cooper said. “It’s a little bit of a different case, since it was charged as rape because the victim was mentally handicapped.”

Zeigler, 71, was indicted by the Maury County Grand Jury in Oct. 2013 for raping an 18-year-old-girl and “knowing or having reason to believe that (she) was mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helpless,” according to the initial grand jury indictment.

The incident occurred May 20, 2013, with the victim’s mother filing the initial police report. The report stated Zeigler had called and told the mother that his wife and daughter would be out of town and he wanted the victim to come over to his house, which also served as The Way Christian Church, and help clean up.

He declined the mother’s offer to accompany her daughter, insisting she come alone. The mother then made an excuse and did not take her daughter to Zeigler’s home.

Columbia Police Detective Cheryl MacPherson investigated the case, previously told The Daily Herald the victim and Zeigler had “almost a granddaughter/grandfather relationship and she thought very highly of him.” She also said the mother later asked more direct questions of her daughter, who admitted they had developed a sexual relationship.

The rape investigation included a psychiatric examination, which found the victim, although 18 at the time, possessed a mental status equivalent to between 9-10 years old and an IQ of 69. As a result, the examination determined she would not have been capable of granting consent for sex.

Zeigler admitted to investigators in the presence of his attorney that he had had sexual relations with the teen, although not before she was 18, according to the report. The report also stated that Zeigler had no previous criminal history.

At the time of the incident, Zeigler had been in the Christian Ministry for 46 years and was a finalist for Best Spiritual Leader in the 2013 edition of The Daily Herald’s Best of Maury County reader survey. He most recently served as pastor of The Way Christian Church, which he founded in 2012, after ministering at Central Christian Church in Columbia.

“He’s looking at eight to 12 years on the conviction of rape,” Cooper said. “That’s what the judge will decide, where it falls in that range and if any or all of it is to be spent in jail.”