A Rankin County Court bound over Nicholas Webb to the grand jury after he was arrested for allegedly molesting a family member. However, charges were dismissed against his parents, Pastor Stephen Webb and his wife, Stephanie at a preliminary hearing today.
Pearl police arrested Nicholas on August 25 and charged him with two counts of sexual battery and one count of statutory rape. His bond was set at $500,000 but raised to $600,000 at his initial appearance on August 31. Webb is 21 years old.
The police charged his parents with contributing/neglect of a minor child. Each parent's bond was $250,000 but the Court reduced their bonds to $50,000 each at their initial appearance. Stephen is 53 and his wife is 54.
The alleged victim is a family member.
Attorney Tommy Savant represented Nicholas while Attorney Robert Lingold represented the parents. The two attorneys moved to clear the courtroom since the victim was a minor. Judge Morrow granted the motion.
Judge Morrow dismissed the charges against Stephen and Stephanie Webb. The Court bound over Webb to the grand jury but reduced his bond from $600,000 to $300,000.
Nicholas posted bond and was released.
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| Booking sheet upon arrest. |
Stephen Webb is the pastor of Plain Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in Richland.
23 comments:
At $50,000 for each parent, that was a total of $10,000 to bond out. Ouch. Pass the plate around come Sunday.
The victim is a minor. Never lose sight of that very important fact. He should not be allowed to have a bond at all. The victim is a minor.
At 5:02pm. Read the article. The bond was set then they had a hearing. The charges against the parents were dropped as a result of evidence presented at that hearing. No more bond. Looks like the parents were cleared of wrongdoing.
If charges were dismissed on the pastor and his wife wont they get their 5k each bond back?
I’m not an attorney bondsman or lawman. All I know is they must pay 10% of what the bond was set at.
@6:21 PM My understanding is that they bonded out before that hearing.
Yes, they had already bonded out.
Parents posted first offender bonds and will get money back. Pearl should have never charged parents. Remember the boy was a minor at the time the allegations allegedly occurred.
He was?
I have never heard of first offender bonds. I know how property bonds work. I know how professional bonds work. I know how recognizant bonds work. This is humor, right?
And YOU pompous, self righteous piece of shit just changed their lives forever for publicizing this . Pat yourself on the back, man with NO FAMILY OR REPUTATION to protect. Shame on you, asshole.
Man Pearl must have had a really good case against the parents…….did they loose the phone number to the DA office? Like you can call and discuss these things bumpkins.
First offender bonds allow a defendant who qualifies to post 10% (12% in Rankin for some reason). If they appear in court or case is dismissed the money is returned. If convicted it is applied to fines and court costs, with any balance returned. If you post bond with a bondsman, the 10% you pay is gone (that’s how the bondsmen make their $).
9:16 they didn't "loose" anything.
There are no winners in this matter. Only losers. It is sad. JJ seemed to be the first to break the story although it had been widely shared in the Pearl community. The local media followed soon after JJ. However when the judge decided that there was no evidence to warrant any charges against the parents JJ was the only media source to report that. Most media jump in to assassinate character but don’t take the time to offer updates or retractions. The same is true for the Pearl Police Facebook site.
Parents already covered up him molesting his sister when she was younger. Put her in therapy and swept it under the rug. They have been enabling a predator. They should stay in jail.
Anonymous posted this comment in another thread so I'm moving it over here to keep things consistent.
The old story is still up and there has been no apology to the parents. Both JJ and the Pearl PD take a major credibility hit over this matter.
The parents have just seen their reputations wrongfully destroyed if that matters to anyone.
Oh really? Credibility hasn't taken a hit at all.
Got the tip two weeks ago. Submitted public records request at Rankin SO and Pearl PD for booking sheets and arrest reports. Everything in my post came from those records so EVERYTHING was verified.
All I did was report they were arrested, charged, and had bonds set. Went to the initial appearance or tried to because when I showed up, Pearl quietly moved it over to Rankin County Court. So my due diligence was there.
Pearl is the one that sent out a press release a few hours after I broke the story and it was a real story. Media ran with it. I went to prelim hearing yesterday and was only media member to do so.
Charges were dropped and I reported it. I also removed their mug shots from the earlier post, not that you noticed.
By the way, in case you didn't notice, the media couldn't be bothered to report on how the case turned out for Mr. Swaggard of Pine Lake fame. Once again, press release journalism.
KF do you know if the Pearl investigator has coordinated anything with the Rankin DA? I mean to have charges of that nature brought and to have dismissed for lack of evidence at the preliminary stage doesn't speak too well of the investigator. But, I also understand they can "overcharge," and in this cast too wide of a net. Again, just wondering what, if any, consultation there was with the DA's office. And I realize you (KF) may not know that. Just pondering things "aloud."
No idea. They are usually tightlipped on these types of cases. Won't know much until the indictment rolls out.
Hope they throw the book at this young man if he is guilty but I also hope his parents sue the hell out of Pearl PD for the embarrassment. I don't know these people or anything about the case but obviously there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the parents part.
Perhaps an instance of just gather them all up, take them down to the station, separate and interrogate them all friendly like — “We’re just looking for whatever help with the facts you can give us, and it’s going to look good to the judge if we can tell him you cooperated” — and see who sets to squealing.
Next up, Fishboy will report the lurid details of the molestation events with one hand in his trousers!
It’s not a newsblog, it’s HBO
In today's news cycles this will be old news and forgotten quicker than you think. Sure, there's the turd that sits in the self-righteous pew that keeps it going and the people the turd talks to are already tired of hearing it. Because they have their own skeletons to hide. Thank you, Kingfish, for your hard work and due diligence in reporting. It's important. I've been on the bad end of bad reporting. That's a problem. I've been on the bad end of good reporting. The world keeps spinning. Oh well. Dammit.
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