LOUISIANA
WWLTV
11:10 AM MST on Wednesday, May 18, 2005
A Tangipahoa Parish deputy and a former pastor of a Northshore church are under arrest on rape charges amid an investigation into an alleged child sex abuse ring.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said it arrested Deputy Christopher Blair Labat, 24, of Hammond on one count of aggravated rape Tuesday.
A Sheriff’s Office spokesman says the arrest came in conjunction with the arrest of Louis Lamonica, the former pastor of Hosana Church, by Livingston Parish deputies on Monday. Lamonica was charged with two counts of aggravated rape and one charge of crime against nature.
According to juvenile investigator Reginald Bryant, the investigation that led to the arrests began with a phone call form the mother of a juvenile in Columbus, Ohio about five weeks ago.
Bryant said the mother told deputies that she fled Louisiana in fear for her child, and that counseling sessions had raised the allegations of sexual abuse.
Posted by kshaw at May 18, 2005 05:14 PM