Former Louisiana police deputy given 100-year sentence for sex crimes
Dennis Perkins, 47, to spend rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to a slew of crimes including child sexual abuse
A former Louisiana sheriff’s deputy has been given a 100-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a spree of sexual abuse crimes, including child abuse.
Dennis Perkins, 47, will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to a slew of offenses ranging from rape, child abuse images and video voyeurism to contaminating food with a bodily substance, authorities said.
He has no possibility of being released on parole after state prosecutors struck a deal with him to plead guilty to avoid a trial that would have required young victims to testify about traumas they had endured, Louisiana’s Advocate newspaper reported.
Before his arrest in 2019, Perkins had spent 17 years as a deputy with the sheriff’s office of Livingston parish, outside Louisiana’s capital of Baton Rouge. His now ex-wife, Cynthia Perkins, formerly a public schoolteacher, was also arrested.
She pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for a 41-year sentence as part of an agreement that would have made it mandatory for her to testify against Dennis Perkins if he stood trial.
The Perkinses fell under scrutiny after a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. An IP address linked to the pair’s home in the Baton Rouge suburb of Denham Springs led authorities to seize thousands of videos and photos. Investigators arrested the pair in October 2019.
The bulk of the charges against the pair involved a child younger than 13. The couple were charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, video voyeurism and production of child abuse images during several months in 2019, the Advocate reported.
Prosecutors did not disclose how the Perkinses knew the child.
Dennis Perkins faced nearly 80 felony charges after his arrest at one point and was fired from the sheriff’s office. Cynthia Perkins, who resigned her teaching position and filed for divorce after her arrest, was initially charged with more than 70 counts before negotiating a plea deal.
After pleading guilty in Livingston state court Tuesday, Dennis Perkins – once the commander of the Livingston sheriff’s office’s special tactical team – apologized.
