Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Man impregnates underage teen girl THEN ALLEGED RAPIST GETS CUSTODY OF BABY

Episode Date: June 17, 2022

Community outrage after a Louisiana mom loses custody of her daughter to the man who raped her as a teen. Crysta Abelseth was 16 years old in 2005, when she says she was raped by John Barnes, then 30 years old.  Abelseth became pregnant. DNA tests show, and Barnes admits,  he is the father of the now teen child.  Barnes claims the sex was consensual. Abelseth told WBRZ that she met Barnes during a night out with friends at a Hammond restaurant and that he offered to drive her home. Abethseth says Barnes took her to his home and raped her on his living room couch. Barnes found out about the child six years later and pursued custody.  Abelseth pressed charges against Barnes in 2015, but since then no investigation has taken place. And also, now the teen girl is sad her father has assaulted her.  John Barnes says the allegations against him are lies. He denies raping the then 16-year-old.  Barnes says he thought Abelseth was an adult.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Sarah Ford - Legal Director, South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, SCvanLegal.org, Former Prosecutor focusing on Crimes Against Women and Children, Facebook: "SCVAN Legal Services Program" Adjunct Professor, Claflin University & South Carolina State University, Dr. Mindy B. Mechanic - Professor of Psychology (Emeritus) at California State University Fullerton, Forensic Psychologist Focusing on Trauma/victimization, Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Dr. Monte Miller - Director, Forensic DNA Experts LLC, Specialist in Sexual Assaults and Murder, Former Forensic Scientist for Texas Dept. of Public Safety State Crime Lab  Chris Nakamoto - Chief Investigative Reporter, WBRZ-TV, Facebook: "Chris Nakamoto WBRZ", Twitter: @ChrisNakamoto See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I feel like Alice in Wonderland, where everything is upside down. Or there was a series of Batman mini books I would read to the twins when they were little. And there was a world called Bizarro World, where everything literally was the reverse. Do I have this right? A rape victim is ordered to pay her rapist child support, and the rapist has actually gotten partial custody of the child that was born of a rape? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. I've never seen anything quite like this and let me tell you having prosecuted nothing but violent felonies for over a decade I've seen a lot but forcing a rape victim to pay her rapist? Take a listen to our friend Chris Nakamoto WBRZ. He offered to bring me home that night because my friend wanted to leave early. Krista Ableseth knows all too well about overcoming adversity. The 32-year-old is the mother of a 16-year-old, who we are not naming or identifying because she's a minor. She was also born from a rape.

It was a 30-year-old man, and I was 16. Ableseth recalls meeting this man, John Barnes, at a bar in Hammond back in 2005. He offered to take her home. Instead of bringing me home, he brought me to his home. And once inside, he proceeded to rape me on his living room couch. Abel Seth did not know Barnes before that night, but came away from it pregnant. Everybody else just assumed it was from a boyfriend, and I just let them believe that. I have twins, boy-girl twins. They are 14. They are about to turn 15. This then little girl was

about a year older than my little Lucy. What is a 30-year-old man doing with a teen girl, having sex on the sofa of his home? That's rape. That is statutory rape. There's no other way to state it. That is rape. A child that age cannot enter a contract, can't buy a car, can't buy a house in New Jersey, just

still can't even work, can't get booze, can't buy cigarettes, much less weed or anything else because they're not old enough, much less not old enough to get picked up at a bar and taken home and raped. And now, fast forward, she keeps the baby, raises the baby, and suddenly she has to pay her rapist child support. Help me understand how this case has been turned so bass-ackwards. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, and boy, do we need this one, Sarah Ford, Legal Director of South Carolina Victims Assistant

Network, and she focused on crimes against women as a prosecutor. Dr. Mindy B., Mechanic Professor of Psychology, and boy, do we need a shrink,itus california state university fullerton forensic psychologists focusing on trauma and victimization sex partner violence stalking and sex assaults dr monty miller director forensic dna experts specialists in sex assaults and murder former scientists for texas department of public safety but first a special guest joining us chris nakamoto in sex assaults and murder, former scientist for Texas Department of Public Safety. But first, a special guest joining us, Chris Nakamoto, anchor and chief investigative reporter, WBRZ-TV. Chris, what am I missing in this picture?

She's raped at age 16 by a 30-year-old man. And under the law, you don't have to beat the rape victim and tear her clothes off and leave her with a bloody lip and broken bones in her face. At that age this child still qualifies as protected under the law. That's statutory rape no matter how you slice it. You are 100% right. We're talking about Louisiana, our food, our music, our culture, our corruption, even our craziness is different here. And we first heard about this story about a month ago. We were just so aghast by the allegations. We started doing some digging. We've been looking into this now for about a month and a half.

And then when we started trying to vet what was happening, doing our due diligence, talking to the sheriff, talking to the judge involved, no one wanted to talk. Gee, I wonder why. I wonder why nobody wanted to talk. They must all be embarrassed of what is happening under their noses. And that judge, hold on, I'm about to chew him a new rear end. Take a listen to our cut three, our friends at WBRZ. Seven years ago in July of 2015, Abel Seth pressed charges against Barnes.

This report she filed with the Tangipahoe Parish Sheriff's Office for simple rape details everything that was done to her. Why did it take you so long to file that complaint? Well, like I said, I was young and I didn't know the law at the time. I didn't think I had any more time to do it. I thought if I didn't do it right after it happened, like the next day, then there was nothing I could do about it. And like I said, I went to that trauma counselor and he informed me, no, you have 30 years after you turn 18. From 2015 until now, nothing has happened with the report.

And the sheriff's office tells us it's still open. It was never assigned to any detective and nothing was ever investigated. Okay, I don't understand why nothing was ever done. Maybe, Chris Nakamoto, joining me from WBRZ, you can tell me what the sheriff has to say about that. They have been radio silent up until so much pressure came on them this week where numerous other media outlets after we aired this Monday began asking questions as well.

Late yesterday, they issued a news release. They're not doing any interviews where they admitted their department absolutely dropped the ball. They claim they need to own their mistake. They said that this mistake has never been a problem before and we need to keep it that way. But then they started victim shaming, which is really interesting. following up on the case after she filed that report in 2015 that went nowhere. And so it's really interesting to see the tactics that they're taking right now. But their mistake led to extraordinary consequences. And if this had been dealt with seven years ago, this custody issue might not even be an issue. Their mistake, their mistake well as it turns out the baby daddy in this case is has a fairly substantial background who is he he runs a company called gumbo digital branding they built websites he uh on monday when we did the story he had his whole little client list

published and one of them just happened to be the local police department in the jurisdiction where this happened. And after we aired the story, he deleted that whole page that has all of his clients on there. So his clients include the sheriff's office? The police department in that jurisdiction. Guys, take a listen to our cut for our friends at WBRZ. A quick search of John Barnes shows he owns Gumbo Digital Branding, a web company in Ponchatoula. Barnes' website shows the police department is his client. Court records in the Tangibahoe Parish Courthouse show John Barnes admitted in June of 2011 that he's the biological father of the child. This

year, he was granted full custody of that child even though a criminal complaint was filed against him in 2015. Mysteriously those records are under seal, hidden from public view. When I found out that she was a rape victim and found out that this rapist could potentially get full custody, that was when I stepped in and said, no, something has to be done about this. Stacey Trish works for the non-profit Save Lives. She's helping Abelseth through this dark entangled web that allowed her perpetrator to get custody of her child. I just can't take in what I'm hearing. A rapist gets custody of the child, and the rape victim has been forced to pay child support.

So let's go back in time just a moment to the time of the rape. Take a listen to our cut to our friends at WBRZ. Abel Seth had a healthy baby girl, and everything was fine until John Barnes learned sometime in 2011 that he might have a daughter. When my daughter was five years old he found out about her and once he found out about her he basically pursued custody and wanted to take her away from me and they granted him 50-50 custody despite the fact that it was caused through rape. This DNA test is part of court documents that show with 99.97% probability John Barnes is the child's father.

Problem is, Barnes was 30 years old and Abelseth was 16, making it illegal even if it were consensual. Abelseth maintains it was never consensual. Okay, first of all. Nancy, this is Jackie. Let me jump in here. John Barnes, the man accused of raping Abelseth, flatly denies that he raped the then 16-year-old girl. He says he thought that she was an adult because she was in a bar using a fake ID. Okay, in my mind, to Sarah Ford, Legal Director, South Carolina Victims Assistance Network,

in my mind, this is an open-shut case of statutory rape because it's my understanding in that jurisdiction, and all you Louisiana people, correct me if I'm wrong, a child 16 or under cannot consent to sex, period. So even if there was consent, it's still statutory rape. The defense, I thought she was 18. That doesn't cut it in our world. Maybe over in Afghanistan, that's okay, but not here in the U.S., certainly not in Louisiana. So in my mind, Sarah Ford, the DNA test alone proves the case because you've got the mother who's 16 years old at the time. You got the father who was 30 years old at the time, and you've got the baby. The DNA test shows it's his baby, and she's the mom. And they didn't teach me math in law school, but I can add and subtract really well.

That proves the DNA test alone proves sex with a minor. That's statutory rape, Sarah. Absolutely, Nancy. It is mind boggling that the sheriff, I guess quote-unquote dropped the ball with this investigation because this seems like one of the cases where they would be absolutely ready and willing to investigate this with evidence that's so clear and convincing that a rape actually occurred there is an evidence in the DNA test this is absolutely mind-boggling that nothing went further with that investigation. And they call it a, quote, mistake. It's not a mistake. It is a huge failure of the system.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Dr. Mindy B. Mechanic, Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Mechanic, thank you for being with us. Drop the ball. That is certainly putting perfume on the pig. Quite the euphemism. Drop the ball.

That makes me think of me out in the front yard with my twins playing ball, kicking the soccer ball, playing basketball, and I drop the ball. This is not dropping the ball. It's sugarcoating a horrible situation that was never remedied yes i mean she's been the victim now three times it sounds like she was the victim of the original rape she's the victim of the criminal courts or the sheriff's department who um are egregiously not taking appropriate action in terms of the criminal case and then she's now battered by the family court who gives who gave partial custody and required her to pay child support to her rapist so this is probably one of the most

insane outcomes I've ever seen in a case like this. But, you know, victims of sexual or gender based violence don't always fare that well in family court. And there's been a long history, as you well know, about victims being shamed and blamed in criminal courts when they bring forward allegations. I don't know anything about Louisiana and the way it works, but I could only think some kind of politics or corruption is at play here. You know, Dr. Mechanic with me, guys, Dr. Mindy B. Mechanic, Professor of Psychology Emeritus in California. I've dealt with so many rape victims, child rape victims, sexual molestation victims, and they all tell me the same thing, different words. During the rape, a child

goes out of her body. She looks down on her body as she's being raped. They have an out-of-body experience. I've heard that many times. I've heard sitting alone with rape victims, child molestation victims, how the feeling of helplessness is the worst of all, the worst thing of all. You've got this person raping you, and you're a child. There's nothing you can do about it. I've had many of them where they blame the mother because the mother did nothing to stop the rape. In this case, a 16-year-old girl is raped and nobody does a darn thing up until today. Today, they're still not doing anything. And I'm hearing Sarah Ford, this victim, Krista Abelseth, who has gone public, saying, at the time when I didn't call the cops

that day, the next day, I thought I couldn't go forward. Victims get all sorts of things in their head. She didn't go to law school. She doesn't know about the tolling of a statute of limitations. She knows nothing about that. When she's later told by a trauma expert, she's obviously still having trauma, as most rape victims do. She finds out, hey, you can do it now. And she marches herself down and files a police report and nothing happens, Sarah. It's not unusual at all for there to be delayed disclosure in cases like this. It is a huge, huge failure for this investigation. It absolutely is unimaginable that this young woman reported this seven years ago and now is being re-victimized

not only by the lack of investigation into incredibly serious rape charges, but is now being forced by our family courts to not only interact with her rapist, but to turn her child over to him and pay him child support. It is absolutely a huge, huge failure. To Dr. Monty Miller, Director of Forensic DNA Experts, LLC, Specialist in Sex Assaults and Murder. Dr. Miller, again, if I could get my hands on this case, I would bring on the victim, the chain of custody person, and the DNA expert, the scientist, to tell me this victim is this age, here's the baby, and there's the daddy, and then subtract jury. He was 30 and she was 16 when this happened. Case closed as statutory rape under the law. Explain to me, Dr. Miller, how do you extract DNA from, I mean, what do you do?

You get a bugle swab, which is like you take a really long Q-tip and you swab the inside of your mouth with it. And then you take that and you get DNA. How does the whole thing work? How do I know for sure John Barnes, now 46, had sex with a 16-year-old girl? Well, basically, you know, the DNA that you have starts with conception, which is one sperm and one egg. And the DNA in your body is the same anywhere. We can get it from your cheek. We can get it the same anywhere. We can get it from your cheek.

We get it from your blood. We get it from your sperm. You're going to donate half of your DNA to your child. And the mother will donate half of her DNA to the child. So if we get a buccal swab from inside your mouth or a blood sample or any sample and we run those, we can compare them. The child's half of their DNA will come from their mom and what's left over had to come from the dad. From a legal perspective, that report alone demonstrates with certainty without, like you've said, without anything else even being looked at, that he's the dad. Unless he has an identical twin you know this establishes

that they had sex i mean and again it's it's mind-boggling as you guys have said it's a huge failure it's it's unthinkable i mean that's the kind of evidence that they use regularly to convict somebody if i were the defense guy here. Exactly. In statutory rape cases. What? Oh, I was going to say if I were if I were working for the defense here, I would say there is none. I mean, he's the dad and she's young. It's case closed. Case closed. And Dr. Monty Miller, director of forensic DNA experts, tell me the percentage of accuracy in this case. Like, what's the likelihood he's the dad? Well, the likelihood, if they wrote it all out, I mean, I think I saw something that said 99.97, but that's well beyond reasonable certainty. so unlikely for someone at random to be the dad and then to pick him out and say, that guy's the dad and have him be the dad is just unthinkable.

I remember when I would prosecute DNA cases, there would be numbers like one in four trillion likelihood this is not his DNA. What kind of numbers are we looking at here? Well, generally, we're looking at, you know, 99.999999% where, you know, it's like, you know, a billion to one. One billion to one. Well, yeah. Yeah. Those are the numbers. I mean, yeah, you have to actually look at the fact that she picked him out. That's a substantial fact here is that it's so unlikely. And then to pick someone out and say, that's the guy, that guy right over there has the winning lottery ticket is what you're saying. Something unlikely like that. And then they have it.

And it's not just that, Chris Nakamoto, chief investigative reporter, WBRZ. It's not just that it's one in a billion likelihood. 99.99999, according to a DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid test, he's the father. Not only that proves it, but he gets custody of the child, showing that he knows this is his baby. That is damning. How? I mean, there's your

case for statutory rape. I don't know why the sheriff's and the DA's office are sitting on their thumbs with their thumbs straight up their rear end. But Chris Nakamoto, I understand that the mom who endured the rape actually gave her daughter a cell phone and somehow that was used as evidence in losing custody. Take a listen to our cut five. Our friends at WBRZ. Things took a dramatic turn this year when they say a judge granted Barnes full custody of the child. It happened after Barnes alleged Abelseth gave her daughter a cell phone. Abelseth says she was also ordered to pay him child support. She's been forced to pay her perpetrator. She's been forced to pay

the rapist child support. She's been forced to pay his legal fees and she's been forced to give up custody of this child that's a product of the rape. It just makes no sense. We brought this case to the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault. You can't consent. You're too young. That's what the law says. Their lawyers say not only is this egregious, but they've never seen a case like it. It seems pretty straightforward. Not only that a crime took place, but that as a result of that crime, that this person shouldn't have custody of this child. To Chris Nakamoto, WBRZ-TV chief investigative reporter. How did Krista lose custody of her little girl? So in this, this goes back about till about 2011 when he realized he first had a child. And then he,

that's when he went and took this DNA test to try to get 50, 50 custody. He gets 50, 50 custody. And then according to unsealed court documents in about 2016, the judge orders the victim to pay the perpetrator about $117 per month in child support to raise this child. Then this year, there are new allegations after she was prohibited from giving her daughter a cell phone. John Barnes alleged that the daughter got another

cell phone. And Krista maintains she never gave the daughter another cell phone. But that's what the judge used as the impetus to revoke custody and award full custody to John Barnes. Are you sure, Chris Nakamoto, that that is why mom lost custody? Because she gave her daughter a cell phone. Yes, we pulled the unsealed court records after we aired this story on Monday. There was so much public outcry. Well, then I'm going straight to hell because I'm giving both of my children a cell phone. Why is that a grounds to lose custody? They claim that the daughter was using it to do TikTok. Right. They all do TikTok. Right. Even

the president is using TikTok. Exactly. Nancy Stackey, let me jump in again. John Barnes claims that the reason his daughter's cell phone was taken away and the issue with the cell phone given to her by the mom was the fact that the girl was using the cell phone to sext her boyfriend, send sexy messages to her boyfriend, and also using it to post sexually explicit material on TikTok. Are you sure, Chris Nakamoto, that no beating, no starving, no locking her in a room for days on end? Nothing like that. The documents do not say anything about the mom being abusive or anything towards the daughter. In fact, in January of last year, the child's guidance counselor notified the state that the father was actually, there were allegations that the father

was abusing now this child that's the product of a rape. And so DCFS and TPSO, the Tantra Ho Parish Sheriff's Office, apparently launched an investigation into that, which was unconclusive. And then as recent as February of this year, the minor child alleges that she was sexually assaulted by the father who raped the mother. She was brought down to New Orleans to Children's Hospital where she was evaluated. And the doctor confirmed at that time there was evidence of forced entry congruent with a sexual assault on the minor child. I mean, this is just extraordinary. And to think nothing has happened is just mind blowing. Guys, take a listen to our cut 14, our friends at crimeonline.com. In January 2021, the child's school counselor notified DCFS

as a mandatory reporter that the child alleged Barnes physically and mentally abused her. Ableseth requested that Barnes' custody be limited. Judge Cash denied that motion. By November, Barnes filed motions to have Ableseth held in contempt over a cell phone. On February 2, 2022, Cash found Ableseth in contempt over the cell phone and ordered her to pay $500. Ableseth was instructed not to provide her daughter with a cell phone. That same month, court records note for the first time that the child was conceived from a rape. It's also alleged that Barnes drugged and sexually assaulted his daughter on February 21, 2022 and February 22, 2022.

She was transported to New Orleans, where she was evaluated and the doctor confirmed that there was evidence of forced entry congruent with sexual assault. On March 18th, 2022, Judge Cash dismisses all of Abelseth's claims saying all criminal charges have not been accepted and the evidence does not support the allegations made by the daughter. I am so embarrassed right now to even be part of a so-called justice system where this teen girl reports sex abuse by her bio dad who raped her mother. The guidance counselor reports it. She's taken to a doctor. The doctor says there's, quote, forced entry. My goodness, again, what a way of whitewashing the truth. Exactly what does that mean?

Sarah Ford, legal director, South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, forced entry. It makes it sound like somebody jimmied the front door. It means she was raped. There's evidence of trauma within her vagina. I'm not sure what it would be. What are they saying, Sarah? Nancy, these new revelations are just astounding. You know, for there to be any sort of physical evidence with the rape examination kit that was obviously done on this child and for there to be physical evidence of,

I would assume some sort of tearing or something of that nature, which would certainly show that this child had been sexually abused in some way. I mean, to have that evidence is incredible. And then for it to be completely ignored by the court, there really aren't words for that. I mean, it's absolutely astounding

that this mother has alleged that she was raped. This child is obviously evidence of that. And that she is also saying that the same man, her father, assaulted her as well. And the court just ignores this. It is shocking. It is alarming. It is inexcusable. Nancy Jackie here one more time. John Barnes again denies raping Krista Ebel Seth. He also denies assaulting his daughter. It still should go to a jury. They are the ultimate fact finder. Credibility is the sole promise of a jury. How could this be happening? Take a listen to Hour Cut 7, our friends at WBRZ. He's well connected. He's threatened me multiple times saying that he has connections in the justice system, so I need to be careful and that he can take her away from me anytime he wants to. And I never really believed him up until now because it's happening.

I spoke to John Barnes on the phone. He admitted the daughter with Krista is his, but referred all questions to his lawyer, who did not get back to us. The Tangibahoe Parish Sheriff's Office says the case is still open, and we reached out to the judge who made this decision. A woman in his office told us his judicial canons prevent him from talking about it. Wow, that's convenient. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace

to chris nakamoto joining us chief investigative reporter wbrz you guys are all over this case thank goodness clearly the criminal justice system there in ponchatoula, Louisiana, is not handling it themselves. I don't understand how the mom has lost custody. I don't understand why prosecutors are not taking the case away from the local sheriff or cop and handling it themselves. But first, let's start with the judge. Who is the judge, Nakamoto? The judge is Judge Jeffrey Cash. He is a family court judge, and after we aired the story this week, we've been flooded with other complaints of people in that parish, in that judicial district, where people are saying they've had other similar instances where things were not the way they should be. Here's what's really perplexing about that issue involving the daughter.

When she had gone to the hospital about the rape kit, there was a detective that went and collected that evidence. Her name is Lisa Riley. On June 1st, just a couple of weeks ago, she filed a TRO seeking a protective order from being asked certain questions about anything that's open. Krista and the nonprofit that she's working with to kind of bring this to light told us that rape kit and the evidence tied to that is now missing. I'm interested in that missing sexual assault kit.

Dr. Miller, jump in. How can that be missing? There's a chain of custody and every person that has had hold of it then has to sign it out to somebody else. It's a hand delivery. Sign in, sign out. Whoever has a copy of that, that can be tracked. There's a whole. We know Riley was the last person. Lisa Riley was the last person who put her hands on that sexual assault kit. And she's the one who filed two weeks ago that she doesn't want to be asked about anything pertaining to an open investigation wait a minute who is lisa riley

lisa riley is the detective with the tangible hope harris sheriff's office that went and picked up the rape kit okay and she has to bring that out to somewhere she has to either have it in her possession or manually sign it to somebody else. It can't be missing. She has it or she framed it to somebody. Krista and Stacey said through their attorney, they learned that that evidence is gone. They don't know where it is. But Lisa Riley was the last person who had her hands on it.

Who is the district attorney? The district attorney is Scott Perilou. How do you spell that? P-E-R-R-I-L-L-O-U-X. We reached out to him yesterday. He did not get back to us. My first question would be is why is a rape case being handled in family court? Number one, the district attorney, Scott Perilou, is that how you're saying it, Chris? Correct. Should immediately seize this file and get busy if he is at all interested in seeking justice. What is he one of the John Barnes suspects clients to?

That's a good question. You know, at minimum, now that all of this has come to light, it's pretty easy for the judge as easy easy as he unsealed these documents, to undo his order. And so as each day passes and the right thing isn't done, it raises even more questions about what the political corruption is tied to all of these people that are all now covering for each other. Chris Nakamoto, what can be done? What is being done, anything when i spoke to scott paraloo last week he told me that he had not heard anything about this case what nothing had been turned over to him nothing had been turned over my rear end nobody turned over evidence to me either when i was prosecuting i would get out on the street and find the evidence beat the bushes go to the crime lab find the evidence. Beat the bushes. Go to the crime lab. Find the witnesses.

What do you mean turn over the evidence to him? What is he talking about? He said he was unaware of this case until we brought it to his attention. After our story aired Monday, he said he was launching an internal review, and then late yesterday, the sheriff's office announced that they turned everything over to him. Internal review? So, hey, with an internal review, he needs to convene a grand jury on the initial rape

case. And then the same grand jury needs to hear evidence on the second alleged sex assault on the daughter. This is not a case. John Barnes admitted he's the father. The DNA test admits that he's the daughter. This is not a whodunit case. John Barnes admitted he's the father. The DNA test admits that he's the father. This is a clear, open and shut case that needs to be rectified now.

And then you've got the whole can of worms, the whole case regarding the daughter that has been put in his custody. She's made an outcry. She's seen a doctor. There is evidence of, they say, forced entry. In other words, sex assault on the girl, and she's naming the dad. That's a whole nother case. Guys, take a listen to Hour Cut 6, our friends at WBRZ.

Lawyer Sean Cassidy says even in 2005, when the rape took place, That's felony rape in Louisiana. consent or not, it was illegal for a 30-year-old to sleep with a 16-year-old. If a child is born from a felony rape that the law mandates, says shall, the abuser shall not have visitation or any contact with that child, much less custody. Tonight, Abelseth says for years she tried to go about this case the right way through the courts, but having her daughter taken away weeks ago over allegations she gave her a cell phone left her with a lack of confidence that she'll ever get a fair shake with justice impossible to find for the past 16 years. 16 years. Analyst in our cut nine, WBRZ. New today, details about Judge Jeffrey

Cash's decision, forcing Abelseth to pay John Barnes child support. Abelseth says she was 16 when she met Barnes, then 30 at a bar, was raped, then got pregnant, now paying him $117 per month. Barnes even going after her when she fell behind on payments. Things took a dramatic turn this year when Judge Cash awarded full custody to Barnes, saying the mother was in contempt for providing the child with a cell phone. But that's not all. A month before the judge gave full custody to the father, the child reported she was sexually assaulted by Barnes for two nights in a row. The teenage girl sought treatment at a hospital in New Orleans, where a doctor confirmed there's evidence of a sexual assault.

Chris Nakamoto, I'm actually speechless about what is happening in your jurisdiction. Does Krista Abelseth have a lawyer? Yes, there is a hearing scheduled for July the 15th in hopes that parental rights will be terminated for John Barnes. But with all of this attention that has now been brought to this case, why do we need to wait till the 15th? It seems like this is pretty clear cut and it can be undone right now. And where is the girl right now, the daughter? The daughter is still in the custody of the father. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. The daughter is still with the father? Has Abel Seth's lawyer considered an immediate hearing, an emergency hearing?

Has anybody thought of that? I think they filed for it, and the earliest date they got was July the 15th. Who gave them a July 15th date? I'm just curious. I'm assuming they had checked their schedules at the courthouse and that's what was issued to them. I'll tell you one thing. If my daughter were in this home, the courthouse would fall down until I got that emergency hearing on the calendar. Not wait a full month, leaving her in the hands of a man she claims

molested her with a track record of raping her mother. You know, at this point, what else can we do? Sarah Ford. This is such a clear violation of the victim rights. I mean, Louisiana has statutory and constitutional rights for victims and this is completely blown those rights out of the water, made them completely meaningless. I agree, Nancy, an emergency order or emergency hearing needs to happen and those can normally be normally scheduled within 24 hours in family court. So certainly waiting a month for this is absolutely ridiculous. And certainly with these circumstances that not only have come about, but now being investigated

and these additional allegations of the abuse of the child that is still in the custody of the father, this is not something that can wait. There has to be an emergency hearing and it needs to happen now. Chris Nakamoto, I think I know why the hearing isn't until July 15. I think it's because this same judge set the hearing down. His calendar clerk set the hearing giving another full month. I mean, I don't understand why her able-sense lawyer isn't appealing this. But let me ask you this. What can you tell me about this judge, Jeffrey Cash? Judge Jeffrey Cash, again, he did set that hearing,

and this case is going to go before him. You know, just recently, judges had to start producing their financial disclosure forms. So we started checking, you know, some of his background donors and things like that, and the companies who he's affiliated with. And we weren't really able to pinpoint a connection, which is what really makes this whole thing very mysterious. I will tell you, the sheriff in that jurisdiction is the governor of the state of Louisiana's brother. And the state entity that operates under the direction of the governor is the entity, the Department of Children and Family Services, that is overseeing these child support payments to this perpetrator.

So we asked the governor's office two days ago for a statement. We also asked the Department of Children and Family Services for a statement about how they could be mandating these child support payments to this perpetrator when we all know what the facts are now. And they said all our job is is to enforce a court order. And we're dismayed by it, too. But we have to follow a court order and we're dismayed by it too but we have to follow a court order and so i said well certainly your your attorneys within that agency would see some ethical problem with this right and they said we have to just enforce the court order so we asked the governor for a statement and we have not heard back for two days which is very out of character for him to not respond or his communications people to not respond to us.

I'm also concerned about the parish sheriff because no charges have been filed yet, and they blame the fact it was never assigned to a detective and nothing has been investigated. Well, I've learned enough right now in the last 40 minutes to know for a fact that this man is the bio dad of this little girl and that the mom was underage at the time they had sex and I'm doing air quotas because that is statutory rape. Nancy once again John Barnes denies raping Abbaseth he says the allegations against him are lies he said he did meet the 16 year old at a, and he did offer her a ride home, but he also thought that she was a college student because that was what she had been telling people in the bar. She was also using a fake ID.

He says he believed that she was an adult. Okay, everybody, are you tired of just hearing about crime? Do something about it. Call Scott Pirillo, the elected district attorney. Nancy, the phone number to the district attorney's office is 985-748-7890. You know what? I'm just going to dial that number right now myself. I want justice.

Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.