In an interview this week, he said he thought Abelseth was an adult when they met because she was in a bar using a fake ID.
‘It’s a lie. She was in a bar with a fake ID, telling everyone she was a college student.
‘I had no idea she was 16, and I didn’t rape her. That is absolutely, unequivocally false,’ he said in an interview.
Louisiana statutory rape laws apply if the victim is under 17, it doesn’t matter if the underage child consented.
Advocacy groups get involved
‘All I have been trying to do is protect my daughter. There is no way in hell I have influenced seven very high-level organizations that are geared toward protecting children’s rights and safety into sweeping her claims of rape and child abuse under the rug,’ Barnes said.
According to Triche “When I found out she was a rape victim, and this rapist could potentially get full custody, that’s when I stepped in and said something has to be done about this.”
“She’s been forced to pay her perpetrator,” Triche added. “Forced to pay her rapist child support and legal fees and give up custody of the child that’s a product of the rape. It makes no sense.”
Sheriff’s office update
The Sheriff’s Office posted on Thursday that in reviewing Abelseth’s 2015 report, it discovered “it was not assigned to the proper department to be investigated.”
