Man married in Florence faces bigamy charge

By Bethany Fuller and Donna Swicegood
Media General News Service
Published: August 6, 2008

STATESVILLE, N.C. — A man married in Florence, S.C., faces a charge of bigamy after his second wife came forward with information that he never divorced his first wife, authorities said.

Former Statesville High School assistant principal Lynn A. Jackson, 37, of Statesville was arrested by Statesville police on the felony charge. He is next scheduled to appear in Iredell County District Court on Aug. 25.

Assistant Statesville Police Chief Tom Anderson said Verleria Sims-Jackson initially contacted the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office in mid-July.

Iredell-Statesville Schools spokeswoman Dawn Creason said Jackson resigned his position last month.

Sims-Jackson told investigators she learned Jackson was still married to his first wife, Veronica, when Sims-Jackson and Jackson were married April 15, 2007, in Florence, S.C.

“I knew he was married before,” Sims-Jackson said. “(Veronica) knows me. This man wrote a song about me and sung it at our wedding. He was a model husband. I don’t know why they allowed this to go on. I have yet to find out.”

Sims-Jackson said she had an inkling her husband had not divorced his first wife and went through some of the papers in her husband’s briefcase in the garage. She said she asked him for his divorce decree for insurance purposes. A week later, Jackson received a complaint of divorce from his first wife, Sims-Jackson said.

Sims-Jackson said Jackson told her there must have been a mistake with the paperwork regarding his divorce.

“It was just story after story,” she said.

Jackson, who was the minister at Pleasant Hill Baptist church in Ansonville, initially tried to reconcile with her and they even went to counseling, she said.

“When it all came out, I had to face the church,” Sims-Jackson said. “For me to not tell you would mean I was part of the plan.”

Upon further investigation, it was learned that Jackson lived inside the city limits of Statesville so the case was referred to police, Anderson said.

Anderson said investigators confirmed that Jackson was indeed legally married to his first wife when he and Sims-Jackson were married.

“We verified there was no record of a divorce,” Anderson said.

The District Attorney’s office decided to prosecute the case and advised police to seek the felony warrant.

Jackson turned himself in to the police department and was released after posting an unsecured bond.

Anderson said Jackson admitted he was still married when he and Verleria tied the knot in April 2007.

He has since obtained a divorce from Veronica Jackson, Anderson said.

Because a marriage license is an official court record, Sims-Jackson is seeking an annulment and is asking for her name to be changed back to just Sims.

Bigamy is a Class I felony. An offender with no previous record could receive anywhere from three to eight months in jail.