As more and more high-profile stories about sexual harassment begin to emerge, a Baton Rouge woman has come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by former State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson more than three decades ago.
The woman, who identified herself to LouisianaVoice, has asked that her identity be held in confidence because the sensitivity of her occupation and to shield her teenage children from embarrassment and possible peer intimidation.
She said her husband knows about the incident but the rest of her family does not.
She said her motive in coming forward is not to get attention for herself. Instead, she said, she wants to expose him because her experience with Edmonson has been “a bitter pill” she has lived with for 35 years and that she knows “how he operates.”
“I want you to know what a fraud and phony he is,” she said, adding that she watched him as he rose through the ranks of Louisiana State Police (LSP) over the years. “I cannot imagine I am the only person who has been in a similar situation with him.” She said acquaintances of hers who also know Edmonson have told her how “handsy and flirtatious he is.”
Coincidentally, her revelations come on the same day that Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the appointment of members of his Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Policy Task Force which is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the sexual harassment and discrimination policies of each state agency within the executive branch.
The woman said she was 19 at the time and Edmonson was “probably 25 or 26.” She said her parent’s home was in the same neighborhood as Edmonson’s parents’ home. “I know the family well,” she said. I have known them since I was about in seventh grade.”
She said her family was visiting the Edmonsons and Mike Edmonson asked if she would like to ride to New Orleans with him. “I was very reluctant because I really didn’t know him that well and because of my being 19, he seemed like an ‘older man.’ Another person at the gathering sort of talked me into going, so I went. I’m thinking, ‘Well, I’ll be in good hands because he’s a policeman.’ How naïve I was.”
She said Edmonson took her to Pat O’Brien’s in the French Quarter and bought her Hurricanes with “extra shots.”
“I was probably 5-foot-two and may 115 pounds at the time, so you can imagine the effect this had. After I was completely wasted, he brought me back to his car and headed for home.”
She said Edmonson was not driving his personal vehicle, but a State Police patrol car at the time. She said he had the emergency lights on the entire trip to Baton Rouge.
“But he didn’t bring me back to my parent’s house,” she said. Instead, she said he took her to his home which at the time was in a subdivision north of I-12, just off Millerville Road.
“So, he had me, wasted, in his bed, and (he) proceeded to take off my clothes,” she said. “I was petrified and humiliated (and) I can remember just hugging myself in a ball so that he would leave me alone. He succeeded in getting some of my clothes off, but I guess it got to be too much trouble and eventually, (he) just left me alone.
“The more I think back on this, especially having a teenage daughter of my own now, the more I see how predatory this was. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“I’m still afraid of him, though, because he still has powerful friends. But real men, good men, do not ply women with alcohol to try to take advantage of them.”
LouisianaVoice sent an email to Edmonson in an effort to afford him an opportunity to respond to the woman’s allegations but he did not respond to the email.
everybody has been abused !
Will Governor Edwards’s Sexual Harassment Task Force which is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the sexual harassment and discrimination policies of each State Agency within the executive branch, have jurisdiction over Attorneys contracted by Political Subdivisions and which are approved by the AG’s office?
Might be wise. After all, some have been known to encourage underlings to “sneak in a smooch” when dropping by for routine pickups of case materials.
Mike Edmonson (aka “ME”) is a legitimate pervert. I’m so glad that this facet of his despicable life is finally being brought into the light. Trust me, there are far more of these stories to follow. This “man” is pathetic. I’m fairly certain that more women will be finally finding the strength to come forward and tell how they were sexually abused/harassed by this sorry excuse for a trooper. Karma is a bitch and M.E. is finally getting his first taste of humble pie. Trust me, M.E., there are far more slices of that pie that you will be force fed!
Amen!
Well Tom, it is a well known fact among Troopers that several Troopers wives were touched inappropriately by Edmonson when he was Colonel not 30 years ago but during his command. Time for folks to come forward and put this criminal where he belongs.
Someone needs to take care of this bully. Without a doubt more women are going to come forward. I can’t wait to see just how many more there will be.
How could any trooper let that man touch his wife and not bring him before the State Police Commission or the disciplinary board or the Governor himself and file a complaint on him? Edmonson is a disgrace to his badge and uniform.
Problem is, if you’re that trooper and you file that complaint, you can be sure your career would be over. If the accused wins in the case, you’re toast, and even if the accuser wins, the accused’s friends in high places are going to make your life miserable. That’s the problem women have always had in bringing charges – it burns bridges wherever you file the complaint AND frequently follows you throughout your career.
Anyone who stood up to ME faced career suicide, trust me I know first hand…
That any one would treat another human being like that is despicable. Please know that many people support you in spirit even though you’re anonymous to us. I don’t need to be a #metoo, and I’m not, to imagine how it must feel, know how despicable it is, and feel a great deal of empathy for you. It’s particularly vile when people high up in an organization act like Mike Edmonson because it creates a culture in which supervisors down hierarchy feel entitled to do the same. Organizations headed up by such people can come to be characterized by a culture of sexual harassment. Just look at Penn State. Sandusky got away with it for so long because he was part of a club of powerful people who are now all going to jail for what the investigation into his abuse of young boys revealed about them and that university. No wonder fraternities there have acted like they can get away with murder, and now some of them are going to go to jail for that. LSU has the same problems. Complain and HR will circle the wagons and come after the victim, not the perpetrator.
Precisely the problem for decades at LSP! There is no one to go to that has superiority over them. No one! They police themselves. They conduct their own investigations into reports of wrongdoing……how can one be given a fair and thorough review when the perp is the head of the unit handling investigations? Troopers have been shunned, not allowed to rank up, put on undesirable duties, etc for not falling into Ole Ed’s “click”! In the meantime, he raised in ranks a “club” of followers who covered his butt and conducted their own unethical behaviors……because there is no organization OUTSIDE of LSP to discipline LSP. As of late, we have a trooper who has committed over fifty felonies yet LSP, who has admission of guilt from the officer, has refused to charge the officer with said felonies. We have troopers who get paid $200,000 a year to not work, troopers who share privileged information with their friends, troopers who have secret rendezvous in the marked units while on duty, troopers who “work” Endymion parades and get wasted drunk……I could go on and on, but these improprieties have gone virtually unpunished. They weren’t just overlooked, they were laughed about, encouraged, and covered up by Ed and his group of frat boys that were groomed for his purpose. LSP is crumbling, and it’s about damn time!
Because the State Police Commission was “controlled” by Ed! The Commissioner actually resigned because Ole Ed wouldn’t allow disciplinary action to be followed through. We have troopers who not only feared for their jobs, but feared being framed with actions they didn’t commit. The problem here, as with many other LSP cases, is that they Police themselves. There is no governing agency above them that is accessible to the people. It’s next to impossible to be heard by the governor or the DOJ, the only two you can seek help from that have superiority over LSP. LSP holds too much power and Ole Ed exploited that to the max. He not only touched people, he viewed spouses as “available” to him. And the abuse of ethics and finances is far more deep than reported. There will be much more in the coming weeks……this I am sure of!
It is time to clean house once and for all. We cannot tolerate this kind of behavior in our state while we are the ones funding it all. This is insane at best.
What kind of people have we all become to let this happen under our watch?
I don’t know about the rest of you but I have had it. Enough is enough!
I honestly believe we need to rid ourselves of the State Police Commission and the Louisiana Sheriffs Association. It is time for change and someone has to do it soon!
I think it is safe to say that after hearing about this mess, I am not proud to live in Louisiana anymore. Until this all gets cleaned up I don’t think anybody will be.
Ole Mike might as well go ahead and confess to being the shooter on the grassy knoll !
So much of this has happened during the time that James M. “Jimmy” LeBlanc has been the secretary of the department of public safety that he should be held accountable for his “Direct Report” Edmonson’s behavior and actions. If LeBlanc didn’t know what was going on then he is incompetent. If he did know and did nothing, then he is complicit and should be fired. There is no circumstance where LeBlanc should be retained as Superintendent.
LA Voice fan, Leblanc is in fact the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. But, in actuality he only oversees Correction Services. Edmonson was the deputy secretary for Public Safety Services, in other words, the superintendent of state police. Years ago we combined Corrections and Public Safety to make room for a new department.
Clifford is 100% correct. Keep in mind, unlike any other such position (Deputy Secretary) in any other department, the Superintendent of State Police reports DIRECTLY to the Governor.
Thanks, Stephen. Did not we combine those two to make room for DEQ?
Continuing your track record of accuracy, you are again correct, Clifford. On February 1, 1984, under Governor Dave Treen, the Department of Environmental Quality was created after the 2 other departments were combined. I remember Bubba Henry (Treen’s commissioner of administration) called me and my supervisor (Bob Harper) at the time to his office and asked us to work up the numbers on combining public safety and corrections. We did as good a job as we could on a tight schedule, but we really didn’t expect it to happen until it did. When Buddy Roemer came in he placed the strongest emphasis on our environment and DEQ (appointing Paul Templet its head) of any governor before or since. He hoped to reverse the damage already done to our environment and ensure we paid closer attention in the future. Though the track record since then has been spotty, we have made progress in cleaner air and are paying some attention to our water.
There are numerous wives of Troopers who were under him that he harassed as well. One reason many Troopers avoid the LSTA conventions.
Let’s go over this again. (information found on Louisiana Voice past articles / Internet news articles). Edmonson slithered his way to becoming a cadet in 1982 (Wikipedia). In 1983 he crashed his state police vehicle into a light pole going to some city police car chase. With the new sex scandal complaint, I would reinvestigate the state police vehicle crash. Now, we can somewhat fill in the time of when he was about 25 years old due to the lady’s statements. That would put this claim of the sexual encounter of this very intoxicated girl at around the year of 1983 or so (Approx. 1 year on the job and suddenly, JACPOT). The state police Billy bush party bus is ready and Edmonson is first in line to ride this party bus for years. Claims of riding an unauthorized female in the fully marked state police vehicle to a New Orleans Bar (Pat O’Brien’s) then driving back all juiced up with blue light flashing to make the full impression, knowing she was impaired. Was Edmonson’s vehicle repair sheet reviewed on his vehicle to see if he needed to replace an overheated/ blown engine while rushing to jump in bed with this intoxicated girl. The future head of LSP had to have made some special connections to continue with the state police party bus.
In 1988, there was a 10-day suspension for the mishandling of funds when the pope was in New Orleans that year. Very vague details but from what is gathered, it had something to do with paying hotels in New Orleans. Did the Church pay for his hotel room, where he received the funds from the Church to pay the New Orleans Hotel, then gave the state police a separate New Orleans Hotel bill to act like the Church never paid the bill? Who would pocket the hotel money in that case??? A good slap on the wrist and the Edmonson party continues. Did Edmonson get to work LACE during the suspension? If suspended, you can’t work Lace or any extra duty details, but who cares. Look at Troop D for the example and grab a stock pile of pain pills to ease the pain, who cares. Pop a few pills then act crazy at internal affairs and blame others then get promoted to captain.
In 1994, there was a 40-hour suspension. The future head of LSP was involved in very strange crash in his state police vehicle. Very vague on this story too. On an interstate roadway (or hopefully still in the state of Louisianan) at 1:25 AM, he crashed and totaled his state police vehicle. No details if he was working or joy riding back from New Orleans again. Troopers who worked with Edmonson were very upset about the details that were left OUT of the report. A retired trooper said the suspension report was a nice way to tell Edmonson…., basically, Don’t wreck the state vehicle while driving drunk or was it simply don’t wreck (who cares about the drunk part). Something to that affect. After seeing how the disaster of the LSTA and commission worked in 2016, I couldn’t blame these retired Troopers having to keep quite all the years about the possible criminal acts. The Edmonson Billy bush bus party continued.
In 1995, there was a 16-hour suspension for crashing his state police vehicle in a bank parking lot with a child in the vehicle. I would reinvestigate that too. Was a child in the state police vehicle or some other female that took a round trip from the New Orleans bars. These questions must now be asked immediately. The party continues where Edmonson is given supervisor promotions. The party really continues, because…….you don’t question the POWER, unless you kneel before the unquestionable POWER in charge of LSP and begin to worship the disciples of the LSP. Does anyone know how many secrets were kept from 1995 to promotions to becoming LSP head? The secret party was so good that a Vegas Trip was allowed by high ranking brass. Nothing in writing because it was illegal which everyone easily figured it was illegal. while Carl’s San Diego award was taken away. Edmonson reminds me of the statement, “I TAKE WHAT I WANT.”
In 2008, he is given top promotion. Now the head of LSP where he moved into a free house, free living expenses, free laundry service, an inmate as his house keeper. We have a few select Troopers that didn’t seem to mind escorting and driving Edmonson’s wife around the state to New Orleans, providing secret police protection and driving to concerts. Did Edmonson’s State Boy’s sit in the unmarked state police vehicle waiting all night in the parking lot? They would not dare go in the club, drinking and partying all night? Now, these weasels’ troopers are coming forth acting like they were victims of Edmonson. They knew it was wrong, just as the Las Vegas losers knew how wrong it was to take a vacation with State Police funds, then had more nerve than ground meat to actually claim overtime pay while knowing it was wrong. Who is supervising the salivating wolves of greed? The good troopers who were actually working didn’t realize it, but they were being looked upon as caged birds and the wolves were salivating, growling, snarling, and watching over the bird cage door, giving full intimidation postures and eye contact, ready to sink their filthy yellow teeth into the first bird that sings (you don’t dare question the wolves or ruin their overtime pay party). The MUSCLE MAN Dupuy had an old saying in the academy, “you will do it my way, or you will go away. POOOOF.” Was Edmonson’s muscle man well aware of the tarnished badges that was created for a mob family culture? They were ready, willing, and set to join the Edmonson party bus. The dirt bags have now been reduced to little coward birds and they are singing away and giving the dirty detail while hoping they still have a few feathers at the end of this North Korean Dupuy border crossing. You don’t dare cross him. The few loser dirt bags that had rode that party bus (an exposed the party bus now) should be given ZERO respect even if they still have years to reach retirement. Will these dirt bags try to find a way to weasel out of working again, looking for the next Hop-on, hop-off party bus? These dirt bags should go to work in pure misery with the hope they get the good Trooper Justice leashed upon them. Good troopers could use your recorders, and watch the dirt bags, making sure they work knowing their being watch by the good Troopers. Use stationary cameras like the New Orleans News Channel to prove your case. Exposure the few dirt bag police get immediate media attention. Lets hope good Trooper Justice will be legally served.
The 2014 Edmonson tries to gain a $55 grand increase retirement that would not benefit the department at all. More money is needed for the Edmonson’s Party. I can remember when ALL-PRO Training Academy, the MUSCLE, the JUDGE, JURY, AND HOLDER OF YOUR NOOSE of the mighty, mighty, state, Dupuy would go around yelling, “you will not tarnish the badge!” That statement is like Edmonson saying…….what drunk girl? What New Orleans bar? What car crashes? What Troop D lieutenant was promoted to Captain while being investigated for stock piling pain pill and having to sleep at the office on duty because of the pills??? What? What? Someone leaked info to the media and who was it? Not me, because that could get my case tossed out while I WALK OUT…….If he does get away with it all then what will be his first question to ask??? ………………Where is the next party?
Before old Governor Huey P. Long was shot in the capital, Gov. Huey P. Long was once questioned by the media. The reporter asked Huey P., “what do you plan to do about prohibition (18 amendment). Huey P. gave his famous remarks, “NOT A DAMN THING.” Huey P. Long was on a cheaper party bus because he was later shot at the state capital and later buried. As years passed, the rules of the Huey P. Long party bus have changed very, very little as we can relate all this to the Edmonson party bus.
“It would have been impossible for Edmonson to pull off the abuses documented in the legislative auditor’s report without his leadership team and inner circle knowing about much of it and looking the other way.”
This quote is directly from Mr. Dan Fagan’s commentary in today’s Advocate. Maybe Mr. Fagan has missed the point here. The so-called “leadership team” and “inner circle” have benefited from his transgressions. Why would they say anything? Maybe, Mr. Fagan needs to read more of Mr. Aswell’s posts.
Thanks to all of the readers for your thoughts and support for my story. The big picture is how this toxic person has been allowed to get away with so much, yet people look the other way and reward him for his brown nosing. If it had been your own daughter, sister, mother or friend this had happened to, would you still feel the same? I’m not going to stop telling my story in the hopes it gives others the courage to come forward. There is so much more to this story. I can’t as yet reveal too much because of the delicate balance of friends, family and neighbors. I think if Mike did indeed read the email, he and his family has probably figured out who I am. Don’t stop digging Tom. Merry Christmas!