Arkansas governor to pardon sex-crime offender

LITTLE ROCK – One of the 25 people that Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe plans to pardon is a convicted sex offender who has close ties to the Beebe family.

Beebe is planning to pardon 34-year-old Michael Jackson, who is a friend of his son, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Jackson was also on the peewee football team coached by Beebe.

Beebe’s spokesman, Matt DeCample, said the pardon will be finalized within a month if no new information comes to light.

Beebe, who is leaving office in January because of term limits, announced his decision Wednesday, a day after voters elected Republican Asa Hutchinson as his successor.

In 2007, Jackson was arrested in an Internet sting by police in Conway after attempting to meet with an officer who posed as a 14-year-old girl. Jackson was 27 at the time.

He served a two-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a felony charge for Internet stalking of a child. State corrections officials said Jackson completed his parole sentence. The Parole Board recommended that Jackson’s rights be restored by way of pardon after reviewing his case.

Top law enforcement officials from Faulkner County, where the crime occurred, oppose Beebe’s decision to pardon Jackson, who hopes to work with children in the future. Both Faulkner County Sheriff Andy Shock and Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland say they oppose Jackson being pardoned.

DeCample said people will disagree with any pardon and that the decision ultimately rests with Beebe. He said that the governor always considers the personal circumstances of any pardon.

“The governor does have a high baseline standard for all pardons, but he also believes in second chances in the right circumstances,” he said. “A personal experience will give you better knowledge of one person’s file than someone you don’t know. How much that does or doesn’t influence the final decision is just another factor in the process. At the end of the day, there will always be a human factor to it.”