Pearl River Man Convicted of Sexual Assault 11 Year-Old Girl

District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on April 10, 2025, a St. Tammany Parish jury found 35-year-old Ryan Pellegrin of Pearl River guilty of attempted aggravated crime against nature involving a child under the age of thirteen.  Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Nicholson and Iain Dover presented the case to the jury.  Judge Scott Gardner presided over the four-day trial.  Lieutenant Jayson Germann with the Pearl River Police Department led the investigation.

According to trial testimony, an 11-year-old girl was taken to a hospital in Bogalusa in 2021 by her aunt and uncle after she disclosed she had been sexually assaulted by the defendant.  Upon learning the alleged abuse occurred in Pearl River, the hospital notified the Pearl River Police Department.  Officers arranged for the young girl to be interviewed by forensic interviewer Karole Muller at the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House in Covington. During the interview, the child said Pellegrin had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions over the course of several years.  The child said Pellegrin threatened her with a firearm if she didn’t keep the abuse a secret.  He also told her he would do the same things to her best friend if she told anyone.

During the trial, the victim and her friend both testified.  The friend said Pellegrin had once attempted to touch her inappropriately while they were seated on a sofa but she got up and moved away from him.  He then made some lewd remarks to her.  She did not disclose the incident to anyone until several years later when she happened to see Pellegrin at a Slidell Waffle House.  After prosecutors presented their case to the jury, Pellegrin took the witness stand. He accused the victim of lying but when asked what possible motive she had to lie, he could not think of any.  When prosecutors attempted to question him regarding the graphic details of abuse the victim described during her testimony, he claimed he didn’t pay attention to what she said.

After several hours of deliberating, the jury returned with its guilty verdict.  The court set Pellegrin’s sentencing for April 23, 2025.  The penalty for attempted aggravated crime against nature involving a victim under the age of thirteen is imprisonment for up to 49½ years.