Louisiana
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.”
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.
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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Copyright 2024 KALB. All rights reserved.
Louisiana
Louisiana Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for March 2, 2026
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Louisiana
National Guard deployment in New Orleans extended for six months
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
Louisiana
Jury selection begins Monday in one of Louisiana’s largest auto insurance fraud cases
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Jury selection begins Monday in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest auto insurance fraud cases in Louisiana history, with two local attorneys set to stand trial on charges that include fraud and obstruction of justice.
Attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles are accused in an alleged scheme in which drivers — referred to as “slammers” — were paid to intentionally crash into 18-wheelers, file injury lawsuits and allow attorneys to collect the settlements. Both have pleaded not guilty.
63 people have been charged in the case. Many have already pleaded guilty. Motta and Giles are being tried together.
Criminal defense attorney Craig Mordock, who is not directly involved in the case but has been following it closely, said the scope of the litigation is significant.
“You have 10 years of personal injury cases and almost… almost a billion dollars in recovery. That’s all at issue,” Mordock said. “So yeah, this could go two to three weeks.”
Motta’s defense team has advanced a narrative that she was manipulated by a co-defendant.
“There is a compelling narrative that’s been advanced by Vanessa Motta’s lawyer in terms of her being manipulated by one of the co-defendants… about being manipulated by him and him having a prior federal conviction for fraud,” Mordock said.
Motta’s team originally claimed she did not know the crashes were staged. In 2024, her team told FOX 8 she is the victim.
Mordock said Giles faces a more difficult defense.
“I don’t see a favorable juror for one of the other lawyer defendants, Jason Giles. There’s not a clear theory of innocence. This is basically a standard white-collar prosecution where knowledge and intent are going to be the issue,” Mordock said.
The case carries what Mordock described as a shadow. In September 2020, key witness Cornelious Garrison was killed in New Orleans four days after his name appeared in an indictment. Garrison’s admitted killer, Ryan Harris, is expected to testify.
The judge in the case is also allowing the slain witness’s recorded descriptions of the alleged scheme to be admitted at trial.
Mordock said Louisiana drivers have a direct stake in the outcome.
“As your average Louisianan, the idea would be you would save… because the people committing this fraud have been wrapped up. The insurance companies are going to know how to look for this,” Mordock said.
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