Prima facie reporting… this is a horror case.
Read the whole story, watch the video package.
Here’s a few paragraphs that curdled my stomach. PONCHATOULA is EDIT: east of Baton Rouge and north of NOLA.
It's one of the most egregious cases victims' advocates tell the WBRZ Investigative Unit they have ever seen, after a judge awarded full custody to a woman's abuser and forced her to pay child support.
This story dates back decades and involves a woman who was raped at the age of 16 by a man almost twice her age.
Crysta Abelseth knows all too well about overcoming adversity. The now 32-year old is a mother of a teenager that WBRZ has made an editorial decision not to identify because she's a minor. Abelseth's daughter is the child of a rape…
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Court records in the Tangipahoa Parish courthouse show Barnes admitted he's the biological father of the child. This year, he was granted custody of that child even though a criminal complaint was filed in 2015. Mysteriously those records are under seal, hidden from public view.
...
Things took a dramatic turn this year when a judge granted Barnes full custody. It happened after Barnes alleged Abelseth gave her daughter a cell phone. Abelseth said she was also ordered to pay Barnes child support.
"She's been forced to pay her perpetrator," Triche said. "Forced to pay her rapist child support and legal fees and give up custody of the child that's a product of the rape. It makes no sense."
The WBRZ Investigative Unit discussed this case with the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LFASA). Their lawyers said not only is this egregious, but they've never seen a case like it.
"It seems pretty straight forward that not only did a crime take place, but as a result of the crime, this person should not have custody of the child," Attorney Sean Cassidy with LFASA said.
Abelseth said for years she's tried to go about this the right way through the courts. But having her daughter taken away weeks ago over allegations she gave her a cell phone left her with a lack of confidence that she'll ever get a fair shake with justice impossible to find for the past 16 years.
"He's well connected," Abelseth said. "He's threatened me multiple times, saying he has connections in the justice system, so I better be careful and he can take her away anytime he wants to. I didn't believe him until it happened."
This story hit June 12, so two days ago. I didn’t see anything on the front page at first glance. Apologies if someone already has a diary on this.
The original news story has a donation link for Abelseth’s legal fund.
Wednesday, Jun 15, 2022 · 12:41:13 AM +00:00
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ravagerofworlds2
There’s a call for an outside review-
A corruption watchdog told WBRZ Tuesday he's requesting an outside law enforcement entity to come in and review the case where a rape victim was ordered to pay her perpetrator child support.
Less than 24 hours after the WBRZ Investigative Unit aired the story, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux also told WBRZ he is reviewing the case. Prior to today, DA Scott Perrilloux said his office had not received anything on it.