Sex offender chosen to lead Mid-South Christmas paradeCarolyn Whaley owns The Eclectic Emporium on Main Street in Sardis. The Christmas parade went right past her shop Tuesday.
Whaley said everyone in Sardis knows that Michael Saripkin, the grand marshal, is a sex offender.
“Everybody knows that; it’s a small town,” Whaley said. “It doesn’t bother me. He’s a very nice, friendly man. He has donated more money, helped the fire department, helped the police department, encouraged businesses to come here.”
[snip]
Records show Saripkin, a businessman, was convicted of sexual battery in 1990 and statutory rape in 1997--both in Tennessee. Saripkin was again convicted in 2013, this time in Mississippi, for inappropriately touching a child as a person of trust. It’s unclear what his relationship to the child was.
And people in MS wonder why the rest of the country looks at them and just shakes their head...