DEFENDANT CONVICTED OF MOLESTATION OF A JUVENILE

New Iberia, January 31, 2020:  16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhé announces that:

     On January 24, 2020, Peter Derouen, 62, was convicted of Molestation of a Juvenile after a week-long trial in Iberia Parish.

     Derouen's conviction stems from an investigation by the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office into a sexual assault of a juvenile in November 2015.  The twelve-year old victim testified that while she was at her grandmother's house over the Thanksgiving holiday, she was raped by the defendant.  The juvenile victim later reported the assault to a mental health professional.

     The victim disclosed that after the grandmother left her alone in the bedroom, the defendant took off his clothes, got into bed with her, and sexually assaulted her.  She testified that the defendant had been touching her inappropriately since she was eight years old.  At the time, the defendant was the live-in boyfriend of the victim's grandmother.

     Assistant District Attorneys Aaron Brown and Janet Perrodin prosecuted the case.