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Louisiana task force takes aim at how state handles child sex abuse cases

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Louisiana task force takes aim at how state handles child sex abuse cases


BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) – A newly created Louisiana task force targeting how Louisiana handles cases of child sexual abuse convened on Oct. 22, to find potential shortcomings within judicial and departmental operations.

The task force‘s hearing, chaired by Louisiana State Senator Regina Barrow, featured testimony from Kathleen Richey, Louisiana’s Child Ombudsman; a position with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor created with SB137, a bill authored by Senator Barrow in 2023.

According to Barrow, she chose to create the task force following a phone call she received from a constituent describing a case of child sexual abuse which ended with the accused abuser still having access to the alleged victim.

“Someone called me about a sexual abuse situation where the abuser was still able to get to the child,” recalled Barrow. “I asked her how does this happen, and why is it happening, and she said there are many aspects to this, and it’s not easy to figure out, it’s very complex. This is something we really need to take a look at.”

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During her testimony, Kathleen Richey highlighted a statistic from her office, stating it‘s received almost 250 complaints in three weeks, with more than 10% of the complaints involving child sexual abuse.

According to the task force, the most immediate issues impacting the future safety of affected children are the cross-functional communications and processes between departments and courts, the lack of standardized training for chilld sexual abuse interviews and the absence of a written protocol for such investigations under the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and law enforcement.

Task force member and Lafourche Parish District Attorney Kristine Russell emphasized the importance of Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings (MDTs): monthly intra-communications between law enforcement, DCFS, district attorney offices, and advocacy centers. According to Russell, the purpose of MDTs are to ensure the services and support a child receives are sufficient and to ”force communication” between the agencies.

“The number one issue that we’re talking about right now is a lack of communication between agencies and so MDT meetings force communication and in the end result everybody has better cases”

While discussing the interview processes, Richey highlighted a portion of her investigation on interview training, citing that DCFS does not have training specifically for interviewers handling cases of child sexual abuse. She further states that while training is available through advocacy centers and forensic interviews, interviewers “often don’t participate.”

“We have met with an intake interviewer, a worker with DCFS, and in the course of that interview we just did some play-acting and I said, ‘Okay, I‘m a grandma and I’m worried…that somebody is messing with my grandchild’ and, y’know, what do you ask me? There was a lot that I could’ve told them if they only asked, but they didn’t ask,” Richey explained.

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Her suggested solution to the task force would be to develop a written code of protocol and provide accessible training to DCFS specifically for interviewers handling child sex abuse investigations.

“We also discovered there’s no training specific for child sexual abuse for an interviewer, and so we are working with the department [DCFS] to identify appropriate training

“Centralized intake has a protocol for a child fatality, they have a protocol for drug-exposed newborns, and a protocol for trafficking. There is no specific protocol for the extent of the interview for the report of a child sexual abuse.

The task force is set to reconvene on November 13 to potentially create new policy and/or legislative recommendations for 2025.

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How to Watch Arkansas vs Louisiana Tech, Live Stream NCAA Football, TV Chan

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How to Watch Arkansas vs Louisiana Tech, Live Stream NCAA Football, TV Chan


It’s the final home game of the season for the Arkansas Razorbacks as they host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in a pivotal matchup at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

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With kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Razorbacks, who are eyeing bowl eligibility in their final push of the 2024 season.

Jonas Nantze #60 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs onto the field before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 16, 2024 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

How to Watch Arkansas vs Louisiana Tech:

  • Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
  • Time: 4:00 PM ET
  • Channel/Stream: ESPN+
  • Stream: ESPN+ (watch now)

For Arkansas, this game is about seizing an opportunity to secure bowl eligibility after falling short in two previous attempts. The Razorbacks enter the matchup at 5-5, fresh off a 20-10 loss to Texas where offensive struggles and costly turnovers proved to be their undoing. With only two games left in the regular season, this matchup is a must-win for Arkansas to punch their ticket to the postseason.

On the other side, Louisiana Tech is playing spoiler while clinging to its slim bowl hopes. The Bulldogs are 4-6 but riding high after a gritty 12-7 victory over Western Kentucky last week, where their defense served the Hilltoppers their first conference loss of the year. This will be a battle on Saturday, make sure to tune in.

WATCH: Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech on ESPN+

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Should it be easier to send teens to adult prison? Louisiana voters will decide. • Louisiana Illuminator

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Should it be easier to send teens to adult prison? Louisiana voters will decide. • Louisiana Illuminator


Louisiana voters will decide whether to make it easier to send younger teenagers to adult prisons in a constitutional proposal next spring.

The Louisiana Legislature approved Senate Bill 2 Friday with a 70-25 vote in the House of Representatives and 28-10 vote in the Senate. The measure will be on the March 29 ballot that will also feature a major rewrite of state financial policy

It would remove constitutional limits on crimes that can get people under age 17 sentenced as adults. Legislators would then have to enact new laws outlining how courts could send those minors to adult facilities. 

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the proposal and sat in the Louisiana House of Representatives as legislators debated and voted for the bill Friday. Still, it barely made it through the legislative process. The proposal only received 70 votes in the House, the exact number it needed to advance to voters. 

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Ahead of the narrow victory, Republican leaders appeared anxious to get through the House vote quickly and moved to cut off debate and questioning early. House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, also told Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, she had missed a deadline to amend the legislation and refused to let her bring up her proposed change for debate or a vote. 

One of the sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, also made a last-minute change to the bill to limit the offenses for which youth could be moved to adult prisons to just felonies, in part to address reservations lawmakers had about moving more young people into adult facilities. Prior to that change, the amendment would have allowed the Legislature to draft new laws to move minors to adult prisons for “any crime.” 

Fifteen- and 16-year-olds, and in more restricted circumstances 14-year-olds, already face adult prison sentences for limited crimes without the constitutional amendment. Those offenses include murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated battery, a second or subsequent burglary of an inhabited dwelling and a second or subsequent violation of some drug crimes.

Youth advocates have said the broadening of that list to new offenses would do lasting harm to young teens caught up in the criminal justice system.

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Teenagers transferred into adult prisons are at much higher risk for sexual abuse from other inmates and don’t receive the same counseling and educational services available in the juvenile system. Adult sentences are also often years or even decades longer than what youth in juvenile facilities serve, advocates said. 

Supporters of the constitutional amendment, which include the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, have said prosecutors need a larger list of crimes in order to hold younger teens accountable.

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Villio and Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, the sponsors of the legislation, mentioned a few crimes they think should be added to the list.

Cloud said she would like to make the law applicable to carjacking, drive-by shootings and human trafficking. Villio said she was interested in adding fentanyl offenses. 

Attorneys who represent youth in criminal matters said many of those offenses can be used to transfer teenagers to adult prison under current law. 

They also questioned why human trafficking was being brought up as a concern because prosecutors rarely charge adults with that crime. Any teens accused of the offense are also likely being trafficked themselves, advocates said. 

In an interview Friday, Villio said her intention is to get more crimes that “involve serious bodily injury” added to the list. Youth in the juvenile justice system who attack security guards and other workers at those facilities should receive harsher punishment, she added.

Villio’s proposal comes on the heels of another law that greatly expands the transfer of teens to adult facilities. Earlier this year, Landry and lawmakers passed legislation that treats all 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system. The measure took away discretion from district attorneys to put accused 17-year-olds through the juvenile justice system instead of adult courts.

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Louisiana High School Football Scores – Second round of the Playoffs

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Louisiana High School Football Scores – Second round of the Playoffs


Here are the high school football scores from the second round of the Playoffs for the state of Louisiana:

Non-Select=

Division I=

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Airline 42, Westgate 16

Destrehan 63, Shreveport Northwood 21

Neville 44, Covington 13

Ruston 42, Zachary 21

Southside 47, Walker 0

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West Monroe 20, Mandeville 9

Division II=

Franklin Parish 35, Brusly 14

Franklinton 42, West Feliciana 21

Iowa 24, Wossman 8

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Lakeshore 17, Iota 10

North DeSoto 38, Belle Chasse 14

Opelousas 30, Jennings 19

Division III=

Jena 56, Port Allen 20

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Kinder 28, Westlake 12

Oak Grove 62, Mansfield 14

Pine 21, Kaplan 6

St. James 48, Donaldsonville 6

Sterlington 49, Lakeside 18

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Union Parish 42, Red River 8

Division IV=

Franklin 22, DeQuincy 19

General Trass (Lake Providence) 38, North Iberville 6

Haynesville 61, Montgomery 0

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Jeanerette 46, Grand Lake 24

Logansport 49, Elton 12

Mangham 44, West St. John 6

South Plaquemines 21, East Feliciana 6

Select=

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Division I=

Alexandria 49, Evangel Christian Academy 6

Baton Rouge Catholic 42, East Jefferson 0

C.E. Byrd 37, Saint Paul’s 15

John Curtis Christian 28, Acadiana 27

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Karr 56, Huntington 6

Division II=

E.D. White 51, Livingston Collegiate Academy 14

Leesville 42, Loyola Prep 24

Madison Prep 34, St. Charles Catholic 20

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Shaw 49, Loranger 14

Vandebilt Catholic 49, Hannan 9

Division III=

Baton Rouge Episcopal 24, Pope John Paul 7

Bunkie 39, Amite 14

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Calvary Baptist Academy 38, De La Salle 0

Dunham 42, Parkview Baptist 0

Lafayette Christian Academy 35, NDHS 28

New Iberia Catholic 59, Northlake Christian 22

Newman 49, D’Arbonne Woods 19

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Sumner 48, Slaughter 28

Division IV=

Ascension Catholic 58, Opelousas Catholic 13

Covenant Christian Academy 41, Central Catholic 13

Kentwood 42, Ascension Episcopal 16

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Ouachita Christian 28, Pointe Coupee Catholic 6

Riverside Academy 49, Hamilton Christian Academy 6

St. Edmund Catholic 78, St. Martin’s 37

Vermilion Catholic 47, Westminster Christian 17



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