District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on May 2, 2024, 28-year-old Edward Devonta Taylor of Mt. Hermon, pled guilty just days prior to his scheduled trial. During his guilty plea, Taylor admitted to committing a sexual battery against a 7-year-old girl and to obstructing justice by destroying or tampering with evidence related to the sexual battery. He was sentenced by District Judge Scott Gardner to 40 years in prison. Should the defendant live long enough to complete his prison term, upon his release, he will be required to register as a convicted sex offender for the remainder of his life. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Nicholson and Casey Allen.
In May of 2022, the then-7-year-old girl reported to her mother that a man had “done something inappropriate” to her while she was visiting her friend. Her mother brought her to St. Tammany Parish Hospital and told the medical staff her daughter had been sexually assaulted. The Covington Police Department was notified, resulting in the opening of an investigation.
The victim told police that she had gone to a friend’s house to play and a man came in and told her to go into the bedroom. She said that he made her lay down on the floor and pulled her shorts down. The man then sexually assaulted her. After assaulting her, he told her to go to the bathroom to wipe herself off and not to tell anyone.
A forensic interview of the child was conducted at the Children’s Advocacy Center Hope House and she was medically evaluated at the Audrey Hepburn Care Center (Children’s Hospital.) During the girl’s medical examination, biological evidence was collected by taking swabs. The swabs were later submitted to the DNA Lab at the Coroner’s Office. Analysis of the swabs revealed the presence of male genetic material consistent with the DNA profile of the defendant.
The victim’s mother attended Taylor’s sentencing via Zoom and was supportive of the sentence terms.
The defendant has an unrelated sex trafficking case pending in Mississippi. Click here for a previous related story
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