FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jury Finds Picayune Man Guilty of Raping Young Girl
August 2, 2024
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on August 2, 2024, a St. Tammany Parish jury deliberated approximately two hours before returning guilty verdicts against 68-year-old Sander Dedeaux of Picayune, Mississippi, for First degree rape and Sexual assault of a child under age 13. Assistant District Attorneys Zachary Popovich and Le’Anne Malnar prosecuted the case. Judge Alan Black presided over the four-day trial. Detective Thomas McNulty with the Slidell Police Department was in charge of the investigation.
Testimony established that in April, 2018, a woman appeared at the Slidell Police Station to report that her young daughter had been touched inappropriately. The woman said her daughter had recently disclosed she was sexually assaulted by a family friend at a family gathering two years earlier when the young girl would have been nine years old.
During the trial, the now 17-year-old victim was one of numerous witnesses to take the stand. As the jury listened intently, she emotionally recounted in excruciating detail how the defendant slipped into a bathroom while she occupied it during a family gathering, touched her sexually and then proceeded with raping her. She described the physical pain she continued to experience for several days afterward.
Following the conclusion of trial testimony, ADA Le’Anne Malnar gave the State’s first closing argument to the jury. She reviewed critical portions of testimony the jury had heard during the trial. She reminded the jurors of Detective McNulty’s interaction with the defendant as he arrested him. When Dedeaux was told he was being arrested for raping the young child, he smiled and asked if he was being accused of “making love” with her.
During its closing arguments to the jury, defense counsel said “a man doesn’t start offending at age 61.” Defense counsel urged the jury to reflect back on the victim’s demeanor during her testimony, claiming the victim came across as “cute”, “charming” and “attention seeking.” Defense counsel pointed out the fact that the victim’s medical examination revealed no injuries. Defense counsel told the jury that Detective McNulty “misinterpreted” Dedeaux’s reaction to being arrested. Defense counsel said the state’s case was nothing more than “the statement of that girl” and it was “a whole lot of nothing.”
In the State’s rebuttal closing argument, ADA Zachary Popovich forcefully countered the various claims made by defense during its closing argument. He said it was preposterous to expect a child sexual assault victim to still have visible injuries when medically examined some two years later. He said the victim’s testimony included concrete sensory details of the assault she experienced and the victim was able to provide meaningful answers when the attorneys sought additional details in their follow-up questions. He said the victim had nothing to gain materially by coming to court and subjecting herself to intense questioning. As the victim herself put it, she was there because this was her opportunity to finally stand up for herself. ADA Popovich concluded by telling the jury a guilty verdict would not be a magical pill that healed the victim but it would give her something she deserved: justice.
Sentencing of Dedeaux is scheduled for September 12th. First degree rape carries a mandatory life sentence and Sexual battery of a child under age 13 carries a sentence of 25 to 99 years in prison. Dedeaux has a previous drug trafficking conviction out of Mississippi.