At a press conference, Hinds County Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Mumford said no one notified his office a minor was sexually assaulted by a JPD officer even though the law requires such reporting. JPD officer James Hollins committed suicide Monday on I-22- after a woman accused him of having sex with her fifteen-year-old daughter.
Mr. Mumford said Youth Court has exclusive jurisdiction over an abused or neglected child. He said the law requires JPD to contact Youth Court when sexual abuse of a child is discovered. He said he learned about the case on social media Monday. He said he will investigate the abuse of the fifteen year old girl. He said his office will subpoena JPD staff, see who downloaded phones, and collect other evidence. He said Ms. Ross had a duty to inform his office of the sexual abuse.
However, Ms. Ross fired right back at Mr. Mumford not even two hours later. She said in a press release that she followed the law:
I am writing this email to ensure that there are no other misunderstandings in light of County Prosecutor Gerald Mumford’s press conference. On behalf of my client, we satisfied our duty to report by informing the Jackson Police Department Police Chief James Davis Saturday that my client had been sexually assaulted over a period of months by a Jackson Police Department officer.
Prior to holding the press conference, Mr. Mumford spoke to Jess Dickinson, Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services about his plans to investigate this matter. After I received Mr. Mumford’s request for confidential information about the minor child, I wrote Commissioner Dickinson to inform him that I would not be providing any information to the Hinds County Prosecutor’s Office.
I subsequently spoke to Commissioner Dickinson, who assured me that this “was" a criminal matter and that the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services will not be getting involved. Consequently, the statute Mr. Mumford referenced in his letter to me imposes no duty on me or my client to provide him with any confidential information. This matter was properly reported to James Davis, the police chief of the Jackson Police Department. Since Mr. Mumford is the county prosecutor, he can request any information he believes his office is entitled to receive from the Jackson Police Department.
I am providing a copy of the statute Mr. Mumford referenced in his letter requesting information from me. A plain reading of the statute shows that the law does not require me to provide Mr. Mumford with any information.
20 comments:
So other people knew and did nothing.
I support Gerald!!! I didn't vote for him last time around. But, I sure will this next time.
May I ask a question? How do you contact an attorney on Saturday or Sunday? Why didn’t this take place with Lisa Ross making the chief aware on Friday? Am I missing something here? My attorney won’t talk to me on the weekends
He’s wrong. Youth court does not have exclusive jurisdiction.
Every half-ass politician and lawyer in Jackistan is trying to get their 15 minutes of fame from this mess.
In a joint statement, Baby Chok and the JPD chief stated, "the laws are for thee, not for me."
Baby Chok also stated that "how am I supposed to know this reporting requirement? It's not like I am a lawyer."
At a press conference, Hinds County Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Mumford said no one notified his office a minor was sexually assaulted by a JPD officer even though the law requires such reporting.
Ooops!
Everyone knows he is not the smartest lawyer and is power hungry. He wants to be DA but missed his window. He can wait on Stan to retired.
Go get em Gerald Mumford.Jackson Police is one big gang. The law needs to put in their place.
Oh boy. Hinds county is involved. I feel much better now.
Youth Court does not have jurisdiction (exclusive or otherwise) over the (alleged) actions of an adult (potential) felon.
But, it's good to see someone from that office trying to be involved in the prosecution of justice.
@ 9:25
Your really uninformed if you consider Stan to be well qualified. Stan won't win. Darla will and I'm not even a fan of hers. That being said. Gerald does have plenty of support.
Youth Court does have exclusive jurisdiction of the victim's well being! That's what he was talking about!
A chancellor needs to appoint a GAL, preferably one with as few ties as possible to Jackson, JPD, Hinds County, Lumumba, etc. as can be found, and the sooner the better. This won't end well for many of the adults jockeying for an angle and a way to get something (or cover) for themselves but bluntly, F'em. However, with a experienced, knowledgeable and appropriately-focused GAL, the girl at least stands a chance at as decent an outcome as possible under the circumstances.
I lost of lot of respect for Gerald during his last election. He is part of the Rep. Calhoun crew that hires Douglas Williams aka "eyes wide open" to go on 90.1 radio and spread lies and rumors about candidates. Every week they would bash Malcolm Harrison for accepting Gov. Barbour's appointment.
Cylindrical Sam: The girl's well-being, after the fact (although important) takes a back seat to the prosecution of the crime itself, the cover-up that's become evident and the pending lawsuit. But we do appreciate your attempt to clarify the posts of other participants.
Most halfway intelligent people know that the only way for the mess called city of Jackson to be corrected is state oversight and or federal oversight. The current and past elected leaders are simply incompetent. That being said, attorney Ross is a lying, stealing money grabber who only cares about herself. The police department of Jackson has been and is a mess. That doesn’t mean there are not so
good cops there. What about the club that the officers family mentioned he met this girl in? A 21 and over club. There are young girls in Jackson as well as rankin county, Madison county, Simpson county, and Holmes county just to name a few. And there are multiple clubs allowing these underage girls in in Jackson. But no accountability- either they know someone in city government, are paying someone off or they go to church with city leaders. Take your pick. How do you expect good kids to grow up in Jackson with this garbage environment? The media, the city leaders and I’ll say the MDPS all have their head up their a$$. Follow the money.
12:45 PM - the victim's well being does not take a back seat! They happen concurrently. In fact, her well being in this case should have occurred prior to a criminal complaint being filed.
Sam: Tell us how her 'well being' could have been better served and your legal basis for your suggestion. She was safe, the relationship was over due to suicide, she was in no apparent distress and the perp was suspended (although a bit late). But, go ahead with your theory.
Oh give me a break... Sam isn't worth the paper his license is printed on. Sam... too funny!!! What a joker
Post a Comment