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.