A Jefferson Parish jury says a 46-year-old man is guilty of trafficking a teenage girl and sexually abusing another.
Thomas Welty began pursuing the two victims in 2019, when both were 15 years old. Prosecutors said the abuse included Welty giving the victims methamphetamine and GHB, commonly referred to as a "date rape" drug.
"He used narcotics as a mechanism for control," Assistant District Attorney Erich Cathey told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday. "He used methamphetamine and GHB to control his victims."
Welty gave one of his victims alcoholic beverages in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras in 2019. After getting the girl to pass out, prosecutors said he took her to his house in Metairie, injected her with methamphetamine, and raped her.
He then let two drug-dealing associates rape the girl. Prosecutors say they have not been able to identify those two perpetrators.
The jury found that Welty continued supplying the victim with meth, and continued raping her.
The jury also found that Welty gave the other victim the date rape drug GHB in an incident in 2020. The victim said she passed out at Welty's home and came to in the shower with Welty.
Welty denied drugging that victim, and claimed the first victim lied about her age, but admitted having sex with her.
Jurors were not persuaded, taking only three hours to render their verdict of guilty.