Ricky Turner's new DOC mug....gotta wonder if they take a new one of him every time he gets roughed up....
SALINE CO.—One of the most reviled individuals ever to be aligned with the criminal realm in Saline County has had yet another postponement in his Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a minor case.
Ricky Turner, 34, who sits in DOC until 2013 on a weapons violation conviction, is facing three sex offense cases as well as a murder charge in the death of little Jessika James, who died at age 4 in June 2009, at the hands, prosecutors say, of Turner.
Turner has retained an attorney who is equally as reviled in the area—Morgan Scroggins of Granite City—as Scroggins is the attorney who, with enough obfuscation in the courtroom, was able to get accused murderers Arnulfo Fonseca and John C. Curtis, Jr., off on their charges (or reduced, in the case of Curtis, which is all the same in our book).
Scroggins keeps continuing and continuing the four cases Turner is facing; initially, we were making preparations to attend one of the criminal sexual assault trials slated for this Wednesday (the 9th), but now it’s been moved to Nov. 30….and it probably won’t go then, either.
Authorities say Turner, besides allegedly killing Jessika, also has a penchant for having sex with very young girls (records show one of his victims was 9 when her assaults began). All of this came about during the investigation into Jessika’s murder, which went on for almost an entire year, when the lead investigator in the case, Gwen Basinger, uncovered report after report of sexual molestation of young girls allegedly by the man who most local believe is just pure scum.
So we’ll see what happens just before the 30th, and if the continuations will continue, until perhaps a potential plea is reached in the case…keep checking back for developments.