MAN PLEADS NO CONTEST IN JAIL PLOT:POLICE SAY CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER TRIED TO HIRE CELLMATE TO BEAT UP WITNESS
A convicted sex offender facing a dozen new molestation charges pleaded no
contest Tuesday to an allegation that he tried to hire his cellmate to beat up
a potential witness.
Investigators say the plot was hatched in Sonoma County Jail by Carl A.
Skidmore and also involved Skidmore's mother, sister and an aunt.
The plot unraveled when the cellmate, Jose C. Mejias, tipped off
authorities.
Skidmore, 54, could be sentenced to a maximum of six years in prison after
pleading no contest to a single count of soliciting someone to commit an
illegal act.
The plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Sentencing was put off by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Raima
Ballinger until after Skidmore's trial on the molestation charges.
According to police, probation and court reports, Skidmore wanted Mejias to
rough up the brother of the molestation victims. The plot also allegedly
involved bribing the girls' mother to keep them from testifying.
Skidmore's mother, sister and aunt have all admitted their roles,
prosecutor Bill Brockley said.
His mother, Joan Skidmore, 72, of Sacramento, was given two years probation
and fined $5,000. His aunt, Lynda Scott, 57, of Santa Rosa, received nine
months in jail, and his sister, Kathy Ann Skidmore Haskett, 45, of Sacramento,
is to be sentenced Monday.
Skidmore has been in jail since his arrest in March and is facing trial on
child rape and molestation charges involving 11- and 14-year-old girls. The
trial is set for Sept. 18 and expected to take three weeks.
A registered sex offender who was convicted of molesting a female family
member in 1985, Skidmore could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of
the new charges.
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or
bnorberg@pressdemocrat.com.
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