CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A lawsuit alleging Mingo County school officials brushed aside sexual abuse allegations at a middle school comes less than a year after a former judge, prosecutor, magistrate and county commissioner pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a federal corruption probe. The county also was rocked in 2013 by the slaying of its sheriff.
A snapshot of these other cases:
April 2013 - Sheriff Eugene Crum is fatally shot while eating lunch in his parked cruiser in downtown Williamson. A judge has indefinitely postponed the trial of the man charged with killing Crum, Tennis Melvin Maynard of Delbarton.
October 2013 - Former Mingo County Circuit Court Judge Michael Thornsbury resigns and then pleads guilty to conspiring to deprive campaign sign maker George White of his constitutional rights. The charge states Thornsbury helped devise a scheme to keep White quiet about allegedly providing Crum with prescription pills. Thornsbury’s sentencing is set for June 9.
November 2013 - Former Prosecuting Attorney Michael Sparks pleads guilty to depriving White of his constitutional rights. The charge stems from the same scheme involving Thornsbury. Sparks is scheduled to be sentenced June 16.
January 2014 - Former County Commissioner David Baisden is sentenced to more than a year and a half in prison on an extortion charge. Federal prosecutors said Baisden tried to buy tires for his personal vehicle at a government discount in 2009, and then terminated the county’s contract with Appalachian Tire when it refused to cooperate.
March 2014 - Former Magistrate Dallas Toler is sentenced to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to illegally registering a convicted felon to vote in the 2012 primary election.
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