Sex crime charges show no apparent trend - Daily Comet

By Bridget Mire Staff Writer

There's no apparent trend over the last few years with the number of sex crimes reported in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

The Courier and Daily Comet obtained numbers from local law enforcement agencies for five sex crimes: carnal knowledge of a juvenile, indecent behavior with juveniles, molestation of a juvenile, rape and sexual battery. The timeframe ran from 2014 through August 2017.

As could be expected, the Terrebonne and Lafourche sheriffs' offices had the most charges and were the only agencies with numbers in the double digits.

This year, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office reported 13 charges for sexual battery, 13 for rape, 12 for carnal knowledge, 10 for indecent behavior and nine for molestation.

"Some of them are crimes of opportunity, where younger kids are being supervised and (the offenders) take advantage of the situation," Terrebonne sheriff's Maj. Malcolm Wolfe said. "Some of these, you have persons 17 or older dating younger people, and that covers the crime of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. It doesn't seem like something that's on the rise or anything like that."

Lafourche sheriff's Lt. Brennan Matherne agreed.

"Unlike, say, a rash of burglaries or thefts, crimes like this are based on opportunity and the given set of circumstances," he said. "Crimes like this occur inside residences, for the most part. It's not so much a matter of what we're doing or not doing that would make these numbers fluctuate."

This year, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office reported 16 charges of sexual battery, five for rape, five for carnal knowledge, three for indecent behavior and three for molestation.

Golden Meadow Police reported zero charges for the crimes from 2014 through August.

Lockport Police only reported two charges for carnal knowledge of a juvenile in 2016.

The Thibodaux Police Department reported one carnal knowledge charge each year, for a total of four. The department also reported one charge of molestation of a juvenile in 2014 and one rape charge this year.

Thibodaux Police reported zero cases of indecent behavior with a juvenile. They reported one sexual battery charge in 2015, two in 2016 and two this year.

The Houma Police Department reported four carnal knowledge charges in 2015, three in 2016 and three this year. The department reported one indecent behavior charge in 2014, three in 2015, one in 2016 and one this year.

Houma Police reported zero molestation charges in 2014 and this year, but one in 2015 and two in 2016. They reported six rape charges in 2014, two in 2015, seven in 2016 and two this year.

The department reported one sexual battery charge in 2014, three in 2015, four in 2016 and three in 2017.

The figures represent the number of charges, not necessarily the number of people arrested. For example, a case in which one person is charged with two counts of sexual battery would count as two charges.

Matherne encouraged sex crime victims to contact their local law enforcement agency as soon as possible. Though there are many reasons people wait to report such matters, he said the sooner detectives know about a crime, the easier it is for them to investigate.

-- Staff Writer Bridget Mire can be reached at 448-7639 or bridget.mire@dailycomet.com. Follow her on Twitter @bridget_mire.

Let's block ads! (Why?)