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FBI contacted State Police about allegations against Livingston deputy months ago
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BATON ROUGE- Louisiana State Police confirmed to WBRZ that it received a tip from the FBI back in May pertaining to the case involving a Livingston Parish Sheriff's Deputy accused of molesting his children.
A spokesperson for the agency issued the following statement:
Louisiana State Police received a tip from the FBI on May 1, 2023 regarding allegations of sexual abuse involving children. Special Victims Investigators assigned to the LSP Bureau of Investigations learned that the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office had a case relating to the allegations of sexual abuse by [the deputy].
After reviewing the LPSO case and all available evidence, LSP Investigators determined that there was not sufficient evidence to move forward with an investigation. Therefore, a case was not opened by LSP. The initial complainant was advised to let LSP Investigators know if additional evidence was discovered. As of today, no additional evidence has been provided to LSP Investigators nor has LSP been contacted by the complainant. There has been no furtherance of the investigation at this time.
Despite three separate assessments from a doctor, DCFS and the Children's Advocacy Center substantiating the alleged abuse back in 2018, WBRZ learned Friday that none of them testified at a court hearing. Since then, no criminal charges have been levied against the deputy.
This week, the case caught the attention of national Civil Rights lawyer Ben Crump.
"When you look at the Livingston sheriff's department and the things they missed on the Dennis and Cynthia Perkins case, the things they missed on the John Mack case, and you start to question when you have a plethora of evidence on this latest matter... why aren't they taking these matters seriously to say at least we have probable cause," Crump said.
Mack was convicted of rape Friday in a separate investigation. His case was ignored for about a decade until the NAACP got involved.
Two other cases involving the Fores, a pair of local business owners, and Dennis and Cynthia Perkins also were not investigated thoroughly at the time they were reported to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Jason Ard admitted the Fore case was not investigated as diligently as it should have been. He also admitted that he didn't write anything down on the Perkins' case when a Baton Rouge police officer met with him more than a year before his arrest alerting him of suspicious behavior.
Crump said this week he intends to ask a higher authority to come in an investigate.
"If it happens once it's an incident," Crump said. "If it happens twice, it's a coincidence. If it happens three times or four times, it appears to be a disturbing pattern. So we in the public have to give a voice to these voiceless girls."
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