McCurtain County Madness
Those persons interested in expressing their views on this case to either District Attorney Virginia Sanders or First Assistant District Attorney Jon Lagerberg may do so using the following contact information:
MCCURTAIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE
108 N. Central
Idabel, Oklahoma 74745
(580) 286-7611
FAX: (580) 286-7613
Editor’s Note: Those choosing to express their views to either the DA or ADA are reminded to keep it civil and of course keep it legal as these people have the authority to file or refuse to file criminal charges as strikes their fancy!
Commentary and Opinion From Bubbaworld
Editor’s Note: The following is the opinion of the Webmaster of Bubbaworld.com. It is solely an expression of personal opinion regarding the actions and/or inactions of elected or appointed government officials.
Upon first hearing of this fiasco in McCurtain County my first thought was ‘What kind of idiots are running the legal system there?‘ Once I calmed down, cooled down, re-read the news media reports, took a look at the court records and gave the topic a great deal of thought I am still wondering what kind of idiots are running the legal system in McCurtain County.
Child rapist John Keith Tucker’s admission in open court and under oath that he did in fact commit the crime of second degree rape of a child under 16 years of age is a fact. That Associate District Judge Michael D. DeBerry found the evidence supporting Tucker’s admission so compelling that he granted Tucker’s petition for paternity and child custody is also a fact. That First Assistant District Attorney Jon Lagerberg has thus far refused to file charges against an admitted child rapist is also a fact.
In the opinion of this writer, ADA Lagerberg is either corrupt, incompetent or simply stupid when he claims the case is not ‘winnable’. When the accused readily admits he is a child rapist, reveals his criminal actions and does so under oath in a court of law how the heck could a criminal prosecution not be ‘winnable’? That the case is not ‘winnable’ just does not make sense, unless the person refusing to file such an easy to prosecute charge has personal reasons for not doing so.
In the opinion of this writer, McCurtain County Associate District Judge Michael D. DeBerry is an idiot. The last thing a sensible person would do is grant custody of a child to an admitted child rapist. Not only does such a ruling fly in the face of logic and reason it condones child rape and rewards it in this shameful case. If for some reason the mother was deemed unfit to retain custody of the child, the boy should have been placed in the custody of another family member or in foster care. Evidently the judge either did not realize or care of the treatment this child is going to receive when his classmates discover that his ‘daddy’ is a child rapist and that he is the result of that rape. Not to mention the risks if it turns out that Tucker has ‘a thing’ for young boys as we already know he had for young girls.
Judge DeBerry, you are in my opinion an idiot and a greater danger to society than the Creek County judge that stands accused of masturbating in court could ever be.
Since Judge DeBerry is running unopposed for reelection it means that the residents of McCurtain County will be stuck with him until at least 2010. May God have mercy upon their children, as it is the strongly held opinion of this writer that Judge DeBerry certainly does not.
In conclusion, it is the opinion of this writer that unless District Attorney Virginia Sanders insures that John Keith Tucker is prosecuted for at least two counts of second-degree rape of a person under the age of 16 she should be defeated during the primary election cycle in July.
DA Sanders when you assumed office you swore an oath to uphold the law. It is time to uphold the law and bring an admitted child rapist to trial. If you refuse to do so, you along with Judge DeBerry are, in the opinion of this writer, not only condoning child rape but encouraging it. The choice to prosecute Tucker is yours to make. You can either do what is right and uphold the law or give an admitted child rapist a ‘free walk’. The world is watching and hopefully so are the voters of District 17. I know that we at Bubbaworld will be watching and we will also be reporting to the world what you do or don’t, as the case may be.
A District Attorney is supposed to speak for the victim. The victim here was a 14 year old young girl. The district attorney did not speak for her.
I can’t justify what the judge and DA has done to this young girl, no matter that she is now a young woman.
I was glancing through my law books earlier this evening and I happened to read the definition of Criminal Conspiracy.
There are 5 definitions of conspiracy the 5th one states To commit any act injurious to the public health, to public morals, or to trade or commerce, or for the perversion or obstruction of justice or the due administsration of the laws they are guilty of a conspiracy.
It is to bad that both the judge and the ADA is protected by sovereigned immunity.
This decision will discourage girls everywhere from coming forward. I read about this when it first happened and am still disturbed over it. I have read about it also on a couple of other forums. What can be done?
.
The only thing I can forsee that might be done to right this wrong is to apply pressure to the District Attorney to file criminal charges on the admitted rapist. If the current DA continues to refuse to file charges, hopefully the next one will.
As the Grandmother of Melonie I can tell you that you have not heard the whole story yet. This man is her second cousin on her fathers side. His Mother is Melonie’s biological Great Aunt. That is the reason Melonie was so trustful of him. She was raised by them from the time she was an infant. They never allowed her to visit her mother’s side of the family. The first pregnancy was kept from us until the baby was 5 months old. She was kept in Memphis Tennessee by her Great Aunt,who raised her(sister to John Tucker’s mother) and was never allowed to communicate with this side of the family during the pregnancy. This Aunt has now turned against Melonie and is helping her nephew, John Tucker, to financially gain custody of the children.
Maternal Grandmother of Meloni
Thank you, Grandmother. I knew there had to be some kind of connection as the original article I read said that she had said she was dependent on them and was afraid to say anything when the abuse began.
I truly hope the voters in McCurtain County do something for this young woman. It could be their family next.
A friend and myself have baeen successful in getting a discussion started on this topic on The McCurtain County View website. It is difficult to navigate, and they are slow about “approving” membership to the forum, but you can get there by typing McCurtain County View in your search engine, then clicking on the community message boards link.
I read your update on your site about District Attorney Virginia Saunders.
She does not need to remain in office after allowing a rapist custody and support for raping a 14 year old girl. I can feel for this 14 year, because I attended a high school where nothing was done to a teacher that preyed upon the high school girls, I asked assistence from a school board member. My answer was he would do something about it, when his daughter got in this teacher’s class and not before. I guess that is what this DA is doing, she’ll not do anything if or until one of her own children are abused by this man.