FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Tammany Jury Finds Slidell Man Guilty of Raping Child and Strangling Child’s Mother
August 26, 2024
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on August 23, 2024, a St. Tammany Parish jury deliberated for approximately 90 minutes before finding 41-year-old Jose Alberto Moreno of Slidell guilty of first degree rape of a child, sexual battery of a child and domestic abuse battery by strangulation. Assistant District Attorneys Le’Anne Malnar and Amanda Gritten prosecuted the case. Judge Alan Black presided over the five-day trial. Deputy Keith Talley and Detective Adam Driskell headed the investigation for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.
According to testimony during the trial, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched in December, 2021, to a church on Old Spanish Trail in Slidell in response to a domestic battery complaint. Upon arrival, deputies came into contact with two pastors affiliated with the church, a 37-year-old woman, and the woman’s pre-teen daughter. The woman and her daughter had fled to the church from their nearby residence to escape the woman’s abusive boyfriend. The woman only spoke Spanish and her daughter acted as her translator. Through her daughter, the woman related that the previous night, she and the defendant were arguing when he grabbed her by her throat and strangled her for several minutes. The woman eventually broke free and she and her daughter locked themselves in a bedroom until the next day. Deputies observed bruises on the woman’s neck and left arm. While deputies were addressing the domestic violence complaint, one of the pastors encouraged the young girl to tell the police “everything.” The girl then proceeded to disclose the defendant had been sexually abusing her for the past several months. An officer’s body-worn camera captured the girl’s emotional account of the abuse.
The young girl explained that when she came home from school each day, often it was only the defendant there because her mother would still be at work. The girl would sit at the kitchen table to do her homework. On multiple occasions, the defendant would lift her from her chair and carry her into her bedroom. He would then lay her on her bed and rape her. At various times, he told her he was doing this to train her so that when she got older, she would know what to do. He also warned her that she would get in trouble if she told anyone what they were doing. The girl told deputies that the last sexual assault in her bed had occurred just several days earlier. Deputies collected the blanket and bedsheets from her bed so they could be sent to the DNA lab for analysis. The girl was transported to the Audrey Hepburn Children at Risk Evaluation Center at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans where Dr. Leslie Miller and Nurse Practitioners there provided her with medical care. She was later taken to the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House in Covington so forensic interviewer April McCormick could gather more detailed information from her about the abuse.
During the week-long trial, witnesses who testified included the young girl, her mother, two doctors affiliated with Children’s Hospital, the forensic interviewer from Hope House, several police officers and a DNA expert. The DNA expert testified that analysis of the girl’s bedsheets and blanket revealed the presence of seminal fluid. The DNA profile developed from the stain was consistent with the defendant’s DNA profile.
After prosecutors completed their presentation of testimony and evidence, the defendant took the stand. Through a translator, he claimed he fled his native country of Nicaragua to escape the oppressive regime of President Daniel Ortega. He became emotional when questioned about the victim’s allegations and insisted she was lying.
Following conclusion of trial testimony, prosecutors and defense counsel made closing arguments to the jury. While addressing the jury, the attorneys on each side spent much of their time debating the victim’s credibility. ADA Le’Anne Malnar talked about the hardships the preteen had endured; how she not only witnessed her mother being physically beaten on a regular basis but how she herself was subjected to unspeakable crimes at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. When the police arrived to handle the domestic abuse complaint, the girl summoned the strength to speak up and ask the police to please “help me.”
Defense counsel argued the police and medical personnel failed to be objective in their assessment of the victim’s claims. He said the police investigation was narrowly tailored to support her accusation. He conceded the girl was a victim of growing up in a dysfunctional household but that she was not a victim of sexual abuse. He urged the jury to acquit the defendant.
In the State’s rebuttal closing argument, ADA Amanda Gritten asserted the defendant stole the innocence of the young girl. She said the girl would have to be “criminal mastermind” to make up such a detailed account of abuse and fool so many trained experts. She implored the jury to give the girl justice by finding the defendant guilty on all charges.
Judge Black set Moreno’s sentencing for October 9th. First degree rape carries a mandatory life sentence.