Jackson Jambalaya

I believe the use of the Cooper name is justified by a desire to protect the identities of the children involved. Bloggers aren't journalists, and aren't constrained by journalistic ethics, so that in many cases, bloggers seek sensationalism over responsible reporting. We should never expect the same kind of behavior from responsible journalists or from our courts.

Get over yourself Dees.

Since the child is over 18, and the second child is now over 18, I do not see where the need to keep the name secret is warranted.

If Mr. Bill Dees had his way convicted pedophiles and sex offenders required to register with the Mississippi SOR could employ psuedonyms to hide themselves from an unsuspecting public.

responsible journalists? Where?

Fully sourced reporting you'll never see in the JFP.

The Clarion Ledger is a crap newspaper. But, they have a wise and long standing policy of not identifying ANY victim of sexually related crimes. I'm sure these kids suffer enough reading and reliving this cretins crimes without reading about it in the media at this point. KF, your stance on this is a knee jerk reaction and is wrong.

the so-called JOURNALIST in this state suck! Their is so much corruption going on that is common knowledge and yet they never seem to do any investigative reporting.

Flashback to some responsible reporting.

8:30
Actually, Bill, one would expect the Court to be consistent with their use of a false name. Why didn't the Court see fit to do that when they disbarred him? Calling BS on your oh-so-high-minded reproach of KF.

wonder if the fact that this pervert worked for Copeland Cook had anything to do with the changing of the name?

If the supreme court was so interested in protecting the children why would they suspend a Judge that issued an order to protect them. I understand that he may have recused himself and this would be a technical violation of the law that probably deserved some type of reprimand if there were new instances of suspected child abuse and if the appointed judge was not available why should Skinner be ridiculed by the Court and not properly admonished in a more private way.

I generally agree with publishing the real name of perverts like this, but I'm with the group who agrees with the pseudonym on this one.

When kids are involved as victims and they can be positively identified by the public shaming of the pervert, I think the rules change. Others disagree - as we clearly see here - which is their prerogative.

Thompson deserved a real sentence, but that's not the issue here. The issue is whether to dredge this back up for kids (now young adults) who had to experience this once, hopefully moved on, and are now having to contend with being part of this sick story once again.

Here's hoping the kids' friends, acquaintances, coworkers, etc. aren't JJ readers.

@8:30 AM---you're coming off a little condescending. Bloggers have provided an incredible service when reporters refuse to do the job.

Kingfish, I appreciate your frustration and anger. However, when abuse is involved, as mad as we are about the abuser, the abused should be protected. I d think you can't change the rules mid way thru---if the original disbarmt held the correct name, all other documents should hold the name....if the original disbarmt held a fake name, all other docs should do that as well.

10:48 here. 11:04, I think you're largely correct about changing the rules, except that the Order of Disbarment didn't provide the sick details of the offense. In that respect, Thompson was the only one made public by the Order.

The current story focusing on Skinner is one that delves into the sick details that make Thompson more than your run-of-the-mill Eric Law type of pervert. Now the details emerge that the acts involved his own children. That's likely the reason - and one I fully support - for the "Cooper" pseudonym in the current round of stories.

I guess there's some value maybe in outing Thompson as a super-sicko instead of just a regular sicko, but when the child victims are identifiable from the details of a story, the rules should be different.

I'm probably in the minority around here on this, but that's fine. I'm convinced that child victims of abuse like this should get to choose whether to be identified publicly, even if it means passing on an opportunity to deliver a public dose of well-deserved shame, humiliation, etc. to the perpetrator.

That's it for me on this one. Y'all take it from here.

Funny how those of you criticizing me say nothing about the bar. Nothing.

Nice incentive you've created. Don't rape your neighbor's kids, rape your own because every one will be sure and keep your identity secret. The bar, the courts, the media. Nice incentive.

KF, I don't know what the answer is in this situation. I'm not criticizing you at all. I don't think it can go both ways--the court cant use his real name then turn around and say--oh, we don't want to use his name now... That's pretty childish. Likewise with the media. The sadness that everyone feels for the victims is enormous. Its such a knee jerk reaction to want to protect them because of the abuse. Protecting him-the abuser-is of no importance at all and not even considered.

The MS bar has been a joke for many years. They 'correct' what they think needs correcting in private. It appears to be a club that you belong to, pay dues to, then when shit hits the fan, they 'correct' everything in private. Don't want to tarnish the lawyers, you know.

Skinner is a good judge. I wish he could have reached the sitting judge OR I wish law enforcement would have reached the sitting judge or any other judge in the area. Sad situation all the way around.

The VAST majority of abusers of children are closely related to the children they abuse. Neither the courts nor the media NOR the general public cares ONE WHIT whether the identities of these children is revealed when the names, address, photos etc if the abusers is plastered all over creation. So why NOW is there such concern for the (grown) children of THIS man?

Further, the fact that Thompson roams free is a non-issue. He, like 99.9% of convicted child molesters poses no threat to the community at large. He, like most others, chose close relatives because of their perceived "safety". The travesty is that HE...because of who is knows...was spared the mandatory prison sentence that any OTHER person would have incurred for a similar offense.

I think the bigger issue is why wasn't he put behind bars for a long time to be molested by Bubba in the first place? Skinner fell on the grenade. Props to him.

Dirtbag should be in prison.

Kingfish, posting this was in poor taste. His identity is not relevant to the issues in Judge Skinner's case and is not secret. He's registered as a sex offender. There's no big conspiracy to protect him. And you're not uncovering anything. You're causing further emotional trauma to his daughters by bringing attention to this matter.

KF, I am told that you have a legal education, but for whatever reasons you do not have a license or practice law. That said, by virtue of your education you should not be misleading some readers on here by seeking to praise Skinner by way of a horrible cretin, Thompson. The punishment of Thompson had nothing to do with the improper actions of Skinner. Judges are not athletes or even cops that can earn some degree of admiration of throwing away the rules and doing whatever THEY determine is correct in a tight situation. The situation wasn't tight for any judge, the cops didn't need a warrant to arrest Thompson for violating the previous order. They need to answer to those that want to reward Skinner.

Kingfish, posting this was in poor taste.

You really told him Anonymous.

No doubt KF is seriously questioning his decision since Anonymous weighed with such an insightful opinion.

Please hang around Anonymous and help us all more fully see the light.

12:50; your claim that 99.9% of child molesters are thereafter harmless is pure bullshit and you know it. Oh, wait....you said 'no threat to the community AT LARGE'. So, that means they're only a threat to that percentage of the community made up by children. Nicely crafted claim, although still pure bullshit.

What is being glossed over is the reason the Supreme Court upped the ante. Skinner had four previous disciplinary actions taken against him. That's probably four more than most of the trial court judges in this state and certainly four more than acceptable. Interestingly enough, one of the previous violations involved him acting on a case after he recused himself. In other words, he did the same thing again.

It's terrible what happened to the children in this case and made even worse that the perp apparently was not seriously punished. But these are separate cases. The Supreme Court is not reviewing the sentence in the disbarred lawyer's case. They're reviewing the actions of someone who failed to follow their oath of office. Again...

Nobody glossing over nothin'.

seems to me the reason that the supreme court changed the names in its opinion is because the underlying case was a youth court case, which by statute is confidential and nto to be disclosed without order form the youth court. it is a violation of the youth court act (sect. 43-21-267)to disclose the identities of the parties and victims in the youth court case. the opinion arose out of a complaint filed for the judge's conduct in a youth court case, not the criminal case. as such, the names of the parties should have been changed in order to protect the identity of the children who wer einvolved in the youth court case.

Kingfish HAS no 'legal education', whatever that means. Unless he got it at Primos on Saturday mornings.

you be wrong 4:46.

Welcome to the listeners of the Kim Wade radio program.

The underlying case was in circuit court.

Not excusing Skinner's past for one bit. He broke the law in this case. He recused himself and should have stayed out of it. However, I probably would have done the same thing and said screw it, they can punish me. Can't find the judge and this guy is running off with the kids? Not happening. Take that route, have to be prepared to face the consequences and it doesn't help if you have a past history of warnings from the court.

You say Skinner "can't find the judge" Kingfish? What is there in the record to support this? Did Skinner try to contact the correct judge before he acted?

well, I see why you don't practice. you have less than a first year law student's comprehension of the duties, responsiblities, and ethics of a judge. you continue to stir the emotions of the folks on here that aren't expected to understand the role of a judge as an impartial and fair magistrate.

Calling bullshit - get some FACTS before your post next time. They are available for anybody who wants to know the TRUTH. The US DOJ as well as the Canandian DOJ has studied this issue at great length and more than once. The FACT is that less than 1% of convicted sex offenders will commit a crime of ANY kind upon release from prison. Contrast this to the number of convicts whose FIRST arrest is for something OTHER than a sex offense who end up committing another felony then look further to see what percentage of those subsequent offenses are sex offenses. Bottom line - you and/or your children stand a much greater chance of being molested by a former armed robber than a former sex offender. These studies are also the source for my statement that MOST child molesters chose family members as their victims. The bogey man is not hiding in the bushes outside your front door. He's sitting in your den in plain sight. You want to keep your kids safe? Teach them how to tell you about Daddy or Uncle Joe instead of scaring them unnecessarily with your evil-is-everywhere fairy tales and wasting your effort scouring the sex-offender registry.

My reading comprehension skills are just fine. The point of this post was not to defend Skinner's actions or protest the suspension. He did recuse himself and did indeed violate the law. The purpose was to report on a child molester who was given a pass by the media, omitted from the bar directory, and never saw his crime reported in the media. The court changed his name when it didn't do so in his disbarment order. You need to work on your comprehension skills.

August 6, 2013 at 5:46 PM
August 6, 2013 at 6:02 PM

Sorry pal(s). You are anonymous. That is a fact. You both have less than a basic understanding of the term.

Toodles.

if he got permanently disbarred, wasn't he supposed to be removed from the directory? What about dead lawyers? Are you supposed to keep them in the directory too?

How do you figure that the underlying case is in circuit court? The opinion specifically states it was in youth court. Thus, the identities must remain anonymous.

The c-l story says this guy already had a warrant for his arrest from judge Kidd. Seems like judge skinner's warrant was totally superfluous. They could've arrested him without it.

The Mississippi Lawyer merely stated:

Wendel Shan Thompson of Clinton,
Mississippi. The Supreme Court of
Mississippi accepted the Irrevocable
Resignation of Mr. Thompson in accordance with Mississippi Rule of Discipline 10.5 in Cause No. 2011-BD-1185..

Never would know he was a convicted felon if you went by the Bar's publication.

Anony at 6:02 you might want to check your numbers. Most of the studies peg sex offender recidivism at 5% for another sex crime arrest. That is low compared to recidivism for other crimes but certainly not less that 1% as you quoted.

KF, if that was the purpose then you could have publicized the disbarment order and without adding the sick detail about the victim being his own kid(s). That's where you took it too far. I'm sure the kids have been through enough without your reminder to them and news flash to anyone who didn't know what they had been through. If a family member did something like that to one of my kids, I certainly wouldn't want the relationship publicized. That's just not fair to the kid.

Randywallace - studies acknowledge a difference in what is considered "an arrest". If traffic tickets are included in the count, the % goes up above 1%. Whether they are counted or not, the recidivism rate for convicted sex offenders is STILL significantly less that that of other offenders. The chance of a convicted sex offender committing a second sex offense is still less than the chance that of a person who served time for some OTHER type of violent crime. And the chance of ANY child being molested by a complete stranger is about a billion to one. If a child is molested, the perpetrators will be, most likely, Daddy. You can parse and debate miniscule differences in item counts if you want but it wont change the bottom line.

I don't always agree with you, KF. But, I do on this issue. Skinner broke the law, that is a fact. But, the pedophile was protected because of who he worked for. Had he been a nobody, his picture and crimes would have been posted all over the local media - regardless if it were his own kids are not.

Is it true that this ass-wipe never did any time?

6:00 AM, I didn't take it too far. You sure didn't seem to have a problem with the way the bar published in in the ML. Seems none of the other attorneys criticizing me did as well. Figures.

The MSSC protects a member of CCTB? Never would have seen that coming.

He and his family (kids) now lives in my neighborhood in Lamar County, MS in the Oak Grove community with his MIL on the same street.
Wish this was covered by the news when it happened instead of me looking up the registry. l

I was 8 years old when I found out what my dad did. I'm 13 now, and I wanted to see what information is open to the public, so I looked up my dad. I love my dad and I've been through years of family therapy. I think that people should mind their own business, because it does no good get worked up about something you just can't change. My dad went to jail a while back as you would know, but my mother was also arrested as well and right in front of me as well. One day my mom let me stay home from school, and this was after I was informed of what my dad did. Two of my sisters and I went with my mom to see her therapist. When we came home, we went inside and a blue car drove up. It was like the Blueberry from psych, so my two sisters when up to it to take a picture and then a police car drove up and they ran inside. My mom was arrested and my sisters and I were taken to DHS. I didn't know what was going on. My mother was unjustly arrested, because Judge Skinner suspected she had something to do with my father's crime. She was not involved. I was in a safe home with 5 of my siblings. I don't know why they call it a safe home, because it was pretty frightening in my opinion. In fact a pregnant girl was arrested during our stay, but of course I was in the creepy therapists office during these events. My youngest sister was so little and she of us ll has had a ruff childhood. My point of this story is that nobody here should judge me, my family, or anything that you just don't know about. I'm kind of messed up from my experience, sometimes my friends ask about it and it's really hard and it hurts to see all of this that people write about it. I know that people write about this stuff as a job, but it's a bunch of gossip. All of you that read this should go get a life of your own enstead of fussing about mine. Just stop.

As a realtor and mother, I believe everybody has a right to know sex offenders are in their neighborhood. The home values in the neighborhood go down tremendously the minute the sex offender moves in. Nobody wants to live by a sex offender and I would feel terrible if I tried to sell a home near a sex offender to a client family. And, as a mother, I definitely want to know where sex offenders live. If a man abuses his own child, I would worry he may abuse mine if he/she had a chance. You just can't take that risk. So it's not gossip, just facts that need to be addressed. Feel very sorry for this offender's and all sex offender's children. It's just disgusting.

You know what I am one of the children in the thompson family and it is sad to see you all so interested in other people's business like back off I think changing the names was a kind thing to do because it protected the kid who WEREN'T 18 yet and there were 6 kids under 18 at the time also my dad did something terrible but I don't want your pity ms. Realtor and mother I love my dad and I hate all the people who ridicule him for his mistakes no matter how big he is a different person so I hope you can get a life and stop butting into ours thanks

I recently moved to the neighborhood where this guy lives. Hate I didn't know about him before moving in. I cannot believe he isn't in jail, instead of running up and down the streets around the neighborhood with his daughters. Apparently he has a young little girland this just scares us that he is allowed to be around her. Anybody found guilty of what he did should not be allowed to be out in the public, much less around his daughters. And, how sickening that his wife is still with him supporting him after what he did. How disgusting.

I recently moved into this creep’s neighborhood without knowing he was a sex offender. No matter how the family defends him, I sure don’t want him around me or my children. Convicted sex offenders should not be allowed to live in neighborhoods next to children. I sure wouldn’t have moved here if I had known this pervert lived in the neighborhood. Sick.

If you only knew what he did you wouldn’t even want to move into the same state as this man. I am one of the few who knows everything and it is sickening that Justice was not served.

And the fact that he would record himself is sickening as well. Karma, have you or your kids ever asked him what he did with the recordings?

Oh, and he was a high up church leader in the Mormon church. I bet they covered this all up as well.

Oh my goodness! I just found out I live in same neighborhood as this creep. Cannot believe his wife and children are ok with what he did. You can be sure I will keep my children away from this entire bunch. Sickos.

Can’t believe this guy is resurfacing. Heard he was living in Hattiesburg, active in his church and was seen attending as a chaperone….youth dances.