A Louisiana woman claims that a judge granted full custody of her 16-year-old child to the man who raped her and got her pregnant when she was a teen, according to an investigative report by WBRZ.
After the report came out earlier this week, “secret records” were unsealed Wednesday, said the outlet. In a Thursday Facebook post, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office announced that the case was being turned over to the District Attorney’s office.
“In a statement released yesterday, 21st Judicial District Family Court Judge Jeff Cashe signed a ‘Reasons For Judgement’ which allows court documents related to this case to be made available to the public through the Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court’s Office,” said the post.
According to WBRZ, Crysta Abelseth was 16 years old when she met 30-year-old John Barnes at a bar in Hammond, La., in 2005. He offered to take her home, but instead took her to his house, where he allegedly raped her on his living room couch.
Per Louisiana law, when “a person who is seventeen years of age or older has sexual intercourse, with consent, with a person who is thirteen years of age or older but less than seventeen years of age, when the victim is not the spouse of the offender and when the difference between the age of the victim and the age of the offender is four years or greater,” it is considered felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.
Abelseth – who said she did not consent to sex with Barnes – became pregnant after the 2005 incident. She let people believe that a boyfriend was the father and gave birth to a daughter.
Five years went by before Barnes found out about the child. A paternity test confirmed that she is his biological daughter and he confirmed his paternity on the phone to WBRZ. He referred all other questions to his attorneys.
“When my daughter was five years old, he found out about her, and once he found out about her, he pursued custody and wanted to take her away from me,” Abelseth said. “They granted him 50/50 custody despite the fact that [the child] was caused by rape.”
In July 2015, she pressed criminal charges against Barnes and filed a report she filed with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office. Abelseth said she did not know she could still file a report years after the crime until she saw a trauma counselor.
However, she said there was never a detective assigned to her report and that it was never investigated.
“In tracing this case back to the time the initial complaint was filed on July 1, 2015, it was discovered that the report never made it through the proper channels within the department to be assigned for investigation,” said the Thursday Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. “Therefore, our department absolutely dropped the ball, and we simply must own our mistake. This is a mistake, however, that simply has never been a problem before or since, and we must make sure to keep it that way.”
According to WBRZ research indicates Barnes owns Gumbeaux Digital Branding, a web company based in Ponchatoula, La., that list the Ponchatoula Police as a client. Abelsmith said that Barnes has threatened to use his “connections in the justice system” against her.
In addition to granting Barnes full custody of Abelseth’s 16-year-old daughter – allegedly because Abelseth bought the teen a cell phone – she said the court also ordered her to pay him child support.
“When I found out she was a rape victim, and this rapist could potentially get full custody, that’s when I stepped in and said something has to be done about this,” said Stacie Triche from non-profit organization Save Lives, who is helping Abelseth.
The 32-year-old mother had her daughter taken away weeks ago and she fears that she won’t get a “fair shake” despite doing things the right way through the courts according to WBRZ.
“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,” said attorney Sean Cassidy of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, a group that spoke to the outlet.
WBRZ reached out to Judge Jeffrey Cashe, and an employee in his office said judicial canons prevent the judge from talking about it.
A hearing is scheduled next month to potentially revoke Barnes’ parental rights.
According to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office this year “a team of investigators were assigned to and worked diligently to delve deep into the facts surrounding the case,” which resulted in “complex” findings.
Each year, there are an average of 463,634 rape and sexual assault victims age 12 and older in the U.S., according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which offers help and resources to victims.
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