BATON ROUGE - A former justice of the peace in East Baton Rouge Parish who was jailed in 2019 and later convicted of abusing his girlfriend and kids for more than a decade has been released from prison.

See the story at 6:00 on WBRZ

Moses Evans changed his not guilty pleas in May to "guilty" which caused him to be sentenced to 20 years. All of that time was suspended except for five years. Evans received credit for time served and was released from the parish jail after his plea changed.

An investigation began when two of his children told investigators they had been abused by him. His longtime girlfriend of 14 years corroborated their story and said she was routinely whipped with electrical cords, beaten with tools and even burned. She showed dozens of scars on her back and even pointed to her teeth being chipped and lips having marks as a result of the abuse.

"If someone is manipulative and they have control like that, I think that's why I stayed so long," Sandra Hally told WBRZ.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit found Evans at his home in Alsen. He told WBRZ despite the allegations against him, a restraining order is in place until 2038 preventing him from seeing them.

"Some people are afraid to talk and ashamed of what people think," Hally said. "It's the reason I made it out, and God wants me to help somebody."

Evans said despite pleading guilty and signing a restraining order keeping him away until 2038, he's now trying to convince the courts that he's not a monster and should be granted access to them again.

Evans is due back in court later this month.