Louisiana deputy and his teacher wife indicted on rape, child porn charges

Published 4:08 pm Wednesday, December 18, 2019

A Louisiana grand jury on Tuesday indicted a former deputy and his wife, who was a teacher, on dozens of charges, including rape, producing child porn and sexually abusing animals.

Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Perkins, 44, and Westside Junior High School teacher Cynthia Perkins, 34, were arrested in October and jointly charged with producing child pornography, rape, obscenity and video voyeurism. After a grand jury hearing, the two were additionally charged with attempted rape, sexually battery of a child under 13 and mingling harmful substances, news outlets reported.

Dennis Perkins was also charged with sexually abusing animals, which Attorney General’s Office prosecutor Matthew Derbes initially referred to in the courtroom as sexual abuse of a dog.

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The AG’s office didn’t immediately share details of the case, citing sensitivity and the need to protect the victims, The Advocate reported.

Dennis Perkins had been a deputy with the department since 2002 and was the head of the SWAT team before his termination. Sheriff Jason Ard said at the time of Perkins’ arrest that he had personally seen enough evidence to terminate Perkins, even though he had not yet been convicted.

Cynthia Perkins resigned from teaching the day of her arrest.

Dennis Perkins has a scheduled court hearing on Thursday. His lawyer, J. David Bourland, is expected to request he be removed from the case due to an inability to agree on a defense, The Advocate reported.

It’s unclear whether Cynthia Perkins has an attorney who could comment on her behalf.