DENHAM SPRINGS - The trial for a former sheriff's deputy charged with a slew of sex crimes was waylaid after his defense attorney claimed state prosecutors accidentally sent him uncensored child pornography while sharing evidence related to the case. 

Though the Louisiana Attorney General's Office denied that happened, the claims were enough for a judge to push Dennis Perkins' trial, originally scheduled for October, to Jan. 9, 2023 at the request of the former deputy's attorney. 

Attorney Jarrett Ambeau, who's representing Perkins, said the image was sent by mistake from the AG's office as the two sides of the case were sharing evidence ahead of the trial. Ambeau told a judge that he had to hand over his hard drive and have it wiped to ensure he was absolved of a potential crime for possessing the illicit material.

Ambeau said he lost all of his work related to the trial in the process and effectively has to rebuild his case from scratch.

"If it took the Attorney Generals Office and all of it's resources and hundreds of attorneys and investigators three and a half to four months to get through the material, then it would take me and my small office at least that time to review those," Ambeau said. 

Perkins, who was a sheriff's deputy at the time of his arrest, was booked back in 2019 along with his wife Cynthia, who was a school teacher. Both were arrested on a slew of charges including rape and child pornography. 

Cynthia has since divorced her husband and agreed to testify against him as part of a plea deal.