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Lawmaker wants state agency investigated following botched child sex abuse case
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BATON ROUGE- State Senator Katrina Jackson used strong words to discuss her utter disdain for the way a child sex abuse case was handled.
During a meeting Monday at the Capitol among the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children, Jackson said what happened reeked of a cover-up and those involved needed to be investigated.
"Every person that investigated this matter where it went through seven investigations, every agency needs to be investigated for their protocol and procedure and how they dropped the ball," Senator Katrina Jackson said.
The case involves a juvenile who was sexually abused beginning at the age of six and advocates for the child say that juvenile was ultimately trafficked to men. They claim multiple reports were made to DCFS and law enforcement but nothing happened for nearly ten years.
Over the summer the Baton Rouge NAACP got involved with the case. Eugene Collins with the NAACP and Latoyia Porter, the juvenile's guardian now, fought for justice. Both said the child had reported abuse for nearly a decade and nothing was done.
"This is not our mission and not what we should be doing," Collins said. "I don't know if we have the capacity to truly do it, but I know what I couldn't do and that's let a child walk off saying she was trafficked and not do anything about it."
Porter and Collins said the child gave seven forensic interviews. Her interviews were deemed credible, ultimately resulting in John Mack's arrest.
Last month, John Mack was arrested and charged with rape in Livingston Parish. Two months ago, he was arrested and charged with sexual battery.
"This is ten years," Jackson said. "A decade of foolishness while a child was left in a home and abused."
Porter said DCFS removed the victim's older sister from the home after she claimed she was abused, but left the younger child there.
"We know some of these cases were validated by DCFS in 2009, 2014 and 2019," Porter said.
"She was sold at sex parties and was sexually abused and sold to groups of men," Collins said.
Now, the child is finally safe, but the fallout is growing from the epic failure that led to her abuse for ten years.
"Somewhere in this there was a cover-up, and we need to know who DCFS talked to at these agencies that didn't give you what you needed," Jackson said.
"How many years of sexual abuse did this young girl go through because people were not paying attention to this case?" Collins said. "I feel that it was to cover for Mr. Mack's last name."
John Mack is related to a state representative and a Livingston Parish councilman. Both said they have not seen or spoken to John Mack in well over a decade and that if these allegations are true, they expect him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
WBRZ reached out to DCFS for a comment, but did not hear back. We also reached out to State Police to see if they are investigating. This evening State Police said that they will thoroughly investigate any complaints they receive.
On Nov. 5, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux's office filed a motion to recuse his office on this case. That order was signed by Judge Brian Abels. The Attorney General's Office is now in charge of prosecuting the case or appointing someone to do so.
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