District Attorney Collin Sims reports the trial of 36-year-old Brandon Cedric Jones of Lacombe on charges of second degree rape and sexual battery of a child was halted on July 15th after jury selection when Jones elected to change his plea from not guilty to guilty. Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Nicholson and Iain Dover handled the prosecution with Judge Scott Gardner presiding. Detective Katie Robbins with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office was in charge of the investigation.
The case originated when the then 17-year-old victim disclosed to her mother that Jones had repeatedly raped her over the course of several years beginning when she was approximately six years old. The child’s mother reported the abuse to authorities and a criminal investigation was initiated. The teen was taken to the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House in Covington where she was interviewed by certified forensic interviewer Cally Huggins. During her interview, the victim described how Jones entered her bedroom during the night on multiple occasions and raped her. Jones would place a pillow over the victim’s face to prevent her from making any sounds. The victim also disclosed one incident when she was eight or nine years old and had a friend visit for a sleepover. During that night, Jones snuck into the victim’s bedroom and raped her friend and forced the victim to watch. When the victim woke up the next morning, her friend was gone and she never saw her friend again.
As the investigation unfolded, a third victim was identified. She stated that approximately nine years earlier, when she was 15 years old, the defendant touched her inappropriately. An arrest warrant was issued for Jones. He was located at his Lacombe residence and taken into custody. During questioning, Jones told detectives he frequently consumes large quantities of alcoholic beverages and “blacks out.” Jones conceded he may have committed the sexual assaults but had no recollection of them.
During trial preparation, efforts by the DA’s Office to track down the victim’s sleepover friend were successful. She was found now residing in a state near the west coast. After some hesitation, that victim agreed to return to Louisiana and testify at the trial.
After a jury had been seated for trial, Jones stopped the proceedings and informed the court he now wanted to admit his guilt. Jones acknowledged under oath that the victims’ accusations against him were in fact truthful and accurate. Judge Gardner accepted his guilty plea and sentenced him to 45 years in prison without parole. Should Jones live long enough to complete his prison term, he will be required to register as a convicted sex offender upon his release from incarceration. The now 20-year-old victim was present in the courtroom for the sentencing of Jones and she expressed her satisfaction with the terms of his plea and sentence. The other two victims who returned to Louisiana for the trial also supported the plea and sentencing terms in lieu of continuing with the trial
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