Weeks ago, an employee was arrested and accused of stealing work release funds. Aimee Rivere was charged with malfeasance in office, forgery and felony theft after nearly $5,000 went missing.

As investigators took a closer look a the situation, it was discovered at least $40,000 is also missing from the sheriff's office. An employee who handled traffic tickets was placed on paid leave Sept. 7 as that investigation began with a request from Sheriff Mike Cazes to the Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack.

"Once the case gets to me, I plan on getting a forensic-economist-auditor-type person to go through everything they have to see if there's other activities," Clayton said. "I want Waguespack and his guys to find out what's going on and any forensic accounting. I can do that as district attorney."

The employee who was placed on leave has worked for the sheriff's office for decades.

"That's a major public trust issue... to steal from taxpayers that pay you to do the work," Clayton said. "There's a fiduciary duty and solemn obligation when the public puts us in these jobs. We must be accountable for their money... period."

Judge Fred Crifasi and Judge Eboni Johnson Rose are not saying anything about what went into their decisions to issue bonds for Derian Bailey and Luke Simmons.

Victims' advocates said the catch-and-release program that Baton Rouge is participating in needs to end.

"Being law enforcement, I witnessed a lot of people where days and nights they tried to put people behind bars and they weren't listened to," retired advocate Carolyn Stapleton said. "It was a revolving door. And they were very unhappy, but they still did their job."

Stapleton is a retired sergeant with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office who made it her life's work to stand up for victims of crimes and the families of those who died.

Stapleton said in other states there are court watchers that will publish names of judges so the public can make informed decisions about what the judges are doing.

"Be proud of your decision," Stapleton said. "Step up and say I'm so and so and this is why I made that decision, and come election day vote for me for making the decision to put a violent offender back out on the street."

In two different cases that came to light this week, violent offenders were cut loose due to bonds that were set by judges.

This week, the WBRZ Investigative Unit exposed Derian Bailey was a convicted killer tied to a murder in 2012. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and later rearrested for attempted murder.

Judge Fred Crifasi set his bond this month at $300,000 for the attempted murder charge. It's unclear if Crifasi saw the prior killing conviction on Bailey's record when that bond was set. However, Bailey posted the bond and on Monday of this week, he led police on a chase that ended when he crashed his car, killing a passenger in his car.

During a news conference where city leaders addressed crime this week, Luke Simmons was another name that was mentioned. Simmons has a long rap sheet dating back to the year 2000. He has arrests for first-degree murder, resisting an officer, domestic abuse battery, second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

Despite a laundry list of charges, Judge Eboni Johnson Rose issued him a $115,000 bond in February on the second-degree murder charge. Weeks ago, an arrest warrant was issued for Simmons' arrest tied to a drive-by shooting that happened while he was out on bond.

"Any decision I make in life or you make in life, I have to say this is why I did it and stand behind it," Stapleton said. "What makes them different? I'm not going to discuss the case, but this is why I did it and I thought the bond should be this low."

Those sentiments were echoed by city leaders who attended a news conference Thursday.

"In many of these instances, far too often we are seeing rearrests of the same individuals who were arrested for other serious crimes," Mayor Sharon Weston Broome said. "This is not finger pointing or placing blame. It's telling the truth and it's the reality of what we are dealing with."

Judge Crifasi's office did not return our calls.

Judge Eboni Johnson Rose's office issued a statement saying her office could not comment on matters pending before the court.

During the news conference, Paul and Broome said many of the problems they are having involve the same individuals arrested for crimes over and over. One of those cases involves Derian Bailey. Bailey was booked on a host of charges Thursday morning, after leading police on a chase through the busy streets of Baton Rouge Monday. The chase ended in a violent crash that killed one of his passengers.

Bailey was freshly out of jail after posting a $300,000 bond set by Judge Fred Crifasi for a 2018 attempted murder charge. Prior to that, he was convicted in a 2012 killing in north Baton Rouge.

"In many of these instances, far too often we are seeing rearrests," Broome said. "Of the same individuals who were arrested for other serious crimes. This is not finger pointing or placing blame. It's telling the truth, and it's the reality of what we are dealing with."

"As your chief, I promise you, I assure you there is not a stone that's being unturned," Paul said. "It's all hands on deck, and we will continue to do that."

As the crime problem appears to continue spiraling out of control, city leaders held a meeting with college campuses Thursday to discuss it. Other meetings are scheduled with the justice system in the future.

BATON ROUGE - A hooded sweatshirt helped police link one man to at least three separate attacks where he allegedly tried to grab young girls who were a waiting for a school bus, including one encounter that went unsolved for nearly a year. 

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Hunter Talley, 26, was arrested Tuesday and booked on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile for the recent encounters, which happened in back-to-back days last week. In both run-ins, the victims told police that Talley drove up to them as they were waiting for a ride to school and pulled out a gun. 

In one of the attacks, Talley allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl to approach his truck and then groped the child before driving away.

New arrest documents filed two days after Talley's arrest then linked him to another disturbing encounter in October 2021 involving a 15-year-old girl. Officers wrote that the victim's family contacted BRPD after seeing reports on Talley's arrest, claiming he was also responsible for the 2021 kidnapping attempt.

Once again, that victim told police she was waiting for her school bus when she noticed Talley's car circling her neighborhood along Plank Road. The arrest warrant went on to say Talley eventually stopped in front of the girl and shouted "give me your a**."

When the girl refused to come over to his vehicle, she said Talley got out of the car and pulled a gun on her. He then reportedly opened the rear door of the car, exposing his backseat which was lined with blue towels. 

A neighbor who was feeding his dog nearby saw the encounter, and Talley drove off when the dog began running toward him. 

After Talley's arrest this week, police said they were able to link him to last year's crime in part because he wore the same LSU hoodie during all three attacks.

Talley is now facing an additional charge of attempted kidnapping and another count of indecent behavior with a juvenile for the 2021 encounter. 

Neighbors in the area where the incidents occurred were in disbelief.

"If he has a problem he needs to get help," a frustrated neighbor said. "Don't take someone else's child and hurt them for what you are going through. What you are going through is not the next person's fault."

Many said the times at which Talley was allegedly preying on victims was concerning because many parents have to go to work.

"If someone is home and you're sitting out there, can my child stand on your porch until the bus comes," she said.