LouisianaVoice keeps trying to prod the Attorney General’s office into getting off its backside in the investigation of that RAPE of a 17-year-old girl by a convicted rapist in a Union Parish Detention Center cell in April 2016, but it seems Jeff Landry is far too occupied with some grand scheme that he thinks will ultimately land him in the governor’s office.
In our monthly tabulation, it has now been 19 months and counting since the girl, who was being held in a cell after being picked up on a drug charge, was raped not once, but twice, by an inmate who had already been convicted of aggravated rape in Claiborne Parish and was awaiting sentencing while being held in adjacent Union Parish.
To refresh your memory, because the district attorney is a member of the Union Parish Detention Center Commission which operates the center, DA John Belton recused himself and requested that the AG conduct an investigation of the incident. The victim has since filed a LAWSUIT over the incident and now Landry’s office is attempting to lean on that as a legitimate reason for not providing a status of its so-called criminal investigation.
Back on Oct. 17, we submitted our monthly request as to the status of the assault investigation to both the AG’s Public Information Office and to its Criminal Investigation Section. The next day, Oct. 18, we received following response:
—–Original Message—–
From: AG Landry News [mailto:aglandrynews@ag.louisiana.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 1:49 PM
To: Tom Aswell <azspeak@cox.net>
Subject: Re: QUESTION
This matter is under investigation.
Thanks!
Ruth
So, we did our obligatory monthly report of inactivity on Landry’s part. But then on Wednesday (Nov. 15), we received the following response from Assistant Attorney General Luke Donovan, Executive Division:
From: Donovan, Luke [mailto:DonovanL@ag.louisiana.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 4:30 PM
To: azspeak@cox.net
Cc: Dirmann, Shannon <DirmannS@ag.louisiana.gov>
Subject: PRR 17-0159 Tom Aswell, Louisiana Voice
Good afternoon Mr. Aswell,
In response to your public records request pursuant to La. R.S. 44:1 et seq, the information you requested has been processed. You sought records related to the following:
… any documents or reports pertaining to the status of the attorney general’s investigation of the rape of the 17-year-old girl in the Union Parish jail cell last April. That’s the investigation 3rd JDC District Attorney John Belton asked the attorney general’s office to investigate because of a conflict of interests.
Louisiana’s Public Records Act, specifically La. R.S. 44:3(A)(1), exempts records held by the office of the attorney general which pertain “to pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated, until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled….”
Therefore, the records which you seek are exempt from production at this time.
If our office can be of any further assistance, please let us know.
Sincerely,
| Luke Donovan
Assistant Attorney General, Executive Division |
Well, that prompted my immediate response:
Your response is pure, unadulterated B.S.
That’s only because your boss is more interested in promoting his campaign for governor than doing anything on this case for the past 19 months. I’m not at all sure what you mean by “criminal litigation,” but I do know what “criminal investigation” and “civil litigation” are. The first is an investigation and, if warranted, an indictment and trial on criminal charges—and I suggest 19 months to investigate an assault in a confined area when the date, the victim and the assailant are all known to prosecutors is more than enough time to conclude an investigation and to indict. Any litigation would be a civil matter and completely unrelated to criminal charges as that would be a separate matter altogether. The information I am seeking is the status of the criminal investigation, i.e. has the alleged perpetrator been formally charged? If so, what was the charge and is there an arraignment/trial date?
To try and hide behind “pending criminal litigation” is a bit disingenuous. But then I would expect nothing better from Jeff Landry.
The only thing I neglected to say (and I wish I had, so I’ll say it here) is this:
Judging from the manner in which he can drag a matter out, perhaps Landry should consider offering his services as defense counsel for Roy Moore.
Do child molesters gravitate toward the legal professions knowing that out of “Professional courtesy” their “fellow travelers” will often excuse them of their heinous behavior? Seems very coincidental that Roy Moore and now Jeff Landry are attempting to use their positions to excuse and/or fail to prosecute sexual crimes perpetrated against young women.
There is no place in society for the likes of Roy Moore and Jeff Landry. Recall Jeff Landry.
There has to be a good reason that he is not moving on this case. I think he should come forward with that reason soon because this doesn’t make him look good at all. If he is planning on running for governor or a re-run of A.G. it would be in his best interest to come out and tell the public why he is not coming forward with the prosecution of this case.
The lack of movement leaves everyone who has read about this with some grave suspicion for sure. This does not sound like Jeff Landry because he has done some really good work since he has been in there.
I voted for him and I still have faith in him to do the right thing not for our benefit but for the victim in this case. I feel sorry for the family of this person. It must be really hard on them to watch an wait for justice.
I hope he comes forward soon and tells everyone just what really went on in that jail. The family of this victim deserves that much. If this person agreed to the sexual encounter then come forward and tell the truth, if this person didn’t then it was rape and that should have never taken place in that facility and the State is responsible. It is what it is and it will never go away, you can’t undo rape so it is best to deal with it a.s.a.p.
As I recall the previous posts on Louisiana Voice, I don’t believe she was capable of giving consent due to the presence of some intoxicating substance in her system.
And what, pray tell, has “General” (his pompous self-imposed title) Landry done since he took office that’s been good for the state?
He has prosecuted a lot of people for Medicaid fraud for one thing. I don’t hate the man like some others do. No person ever elected to any position in Louisiana or any other place for that matter is perfect. He is lacking in some areas but he sure in the heck is better than the piece of &&&& that was in there before him. I am going to give him a chance to do what is right and if not, I will vote against him. Finished business, the ball is in his court.
The gold standard for today’s politicians (and a substantial number of non-politicians) is to do whatever they please and only worry about potential consequences in the rare cases where there actually are consequences.
Lately, only scandals publicized by the mainstream media seem to have any effect and even those are losing their power, at least partially due to the attempt by the POTUS to destroy the MSM’s credibility and the fact that every day brings at least one new outrageous act. We are rapidly becoming desensitized – the outrageous is becoming the new norm. Mass shootings of only a handful of people, for example, are becoming a footnote in the news as we follow the POTUS’s every tweet.
It would be interesting to see what would happen if Lee Zurik did a series of stories on this case. On the other hand, his latest series seems to have only resulted in statements of “concern” so far.
Great article Tom and Stephen’s response is wonderfully put.
As far as Landry goes, he has done nothing that couldn’t have been done by a local DA. It seems like anyone with a high school diploma could get a conviction in this case. He took this job as part of his aspirations to become governor and that is looking dimmer by the day especially by his failure to act on this case in particular. We certainly do not need him in the governor’s office.
Stephen notes the constant degrading of the MSM by the President and his staff and how this leads to indifference by the public. How else could the number of Evangelical Christians willing to vote for Roy Moore in Alabama increase after a steadily growing number of women attest to the sexual child abuse he has committed? What are we becoming in this country?