FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison on Charges of Aggravated Crime Against Nature and Possession of Child Pornography
December 6, 2024
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on December 4, 2024, 53-year-old Robert Daugherty of Franklinton was sentenced by Judge William H. Burris to 40 years in prison after he pled guilty to one count of aggravated crime against nature involving a victim under the age thirteen and twenty-five counts of possession of child pornography involving juveniles under the age thirteen. After completing his 40-year prison sentence, Daugherty must register as a convicted sex offender for the remainder of his life. Assistant District Attorney Luke Lancaster prosecuted the case.
During the morning hours of June 4, 2024, officers with the Bogalusa Police Department were dispatched to a residential address on Rio Grande Street in response to a 911 call. The caller reported that while driving to work earlier that morning, he observed something very disturbing. As he passed the residence on Rio Grande Street, he saw an older male, later identified as Daugherty, committing a lewd act in the presence of a young girl on the front porch of the residence. The caller stopped his vehicle and confronted the older male who apologized and said “it was the first time.”
Daugherty was transported to the Bogalusa Police Station for questioning. During the interview, Daugherty described himself as a “child magnet.” He admitted to committing the lewd act in the presence of the 8-year-old girl but denied ever touching any child inappropriately. In connection with the investigation, detectives obtained a search warrant for Daugherty’s cellular phone. Examination of Daugherty’s phone revealed it contained twenty-five images of child pornography. Among those images were two depicting Daugherty engaged in sexual acts with the same 8-year-old girl. Detectives reinterviewed Daugherty and when confronted with the images found in his phone, he confessed to sexually assaulting the young girl when they were in Mississippi.