Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office / James Coleman Thompson, 71, of Lookout Mountain, Tenn.Monday’s extradition hearing on an Alabama fugitive from justice warrant seeking custody of a Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, man facing federal allegations of transporting minors across state lines for sex was taken off the docket in Hamilton County General Sessions Court.
James Coleman Thompson, 71, was set to appear before General Sessions Judge Larry Ables on Monday, but action last week in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga forestalled state action in Alabama, according to authorities in Alabama.
A phone message seeking comment from Thompson’s attorney, Lee Davis, was not immediately returned Monday.
Friday, Thompson entered a not guilty plea to three counts of coercion or enticement of a minor, included in a federal indictment alleging he transported victims across state lines with the intent to engage in sex crimes, including second-degree sexual abuse, sexual battery and second-degree sodomy, which is a crime in Alabama, the indictment states.
The two minors were allegedly transported for sexual activity in September and November 2000, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office statement on the case. Thompson was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday, the statement said. He is facing up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
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Rocky Harnen, the sheriff in Jackson County, Alabama, where some of the alleged crimes occurred, said via text messages that Thompson has not been charged with state-level crimes there yet. Harnen was unsure of the next steps in the state’s case, since Thompson is facing federal charges and is in federal custody.
“We will keep our case pending for the time being,” Harnen said in a text message.
The federal case concerns actions from the 1990s through the present, according to a release from the Knoxville FBI office, and federal investigators are looking for potential additional victims in Thompson’s case.
“Victims of Thompson most likely include males who were between the ages of 10 and 15 and may have been involved in various youth wrestling and hunting programs,” the release said.
(READ MORE: Lookout Mountain man arrested in Chattanooga on Alabama fugitive from justice warrant)
Thompson was arrested by Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, police May 31 on a warrant out of Jackson County, Alabama.
He is being held in federal custody without bond until his trial, which has been scheduled for Aug. 12.
Thompson is the father of three Baylor School wrestling standouts who attended the school around the turn of the century. A spokesperson for Baylor previously declined to comment due to the criminal investigation but said Thompson had never worked for the school.
Federal authorities are actively seeking information in the case. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim or knows someone who may have been can call the FBI’s Chattanooga office at 423-265-3601 or make a report at tips.fbi.gov.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.
Staff Photo / The Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and U.S. Eastern District of Tennessee Courthouse is seen in downtown Chattanooga in 2019. Lookout Mountain, Tenn., resident James Coleman Thompson, 71, faces federal charges related to taking minors across state lines for sexual activity.