St. Tammany Parish Jury Finds Slidell Man
Guilty of Molesting Young Girl
November 4, 2024
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on October 31, 2024, a St. Tammany Parish jury found 39-year-old Lenderay Wilson of Slidell guilty of molestation of a juvenile. Assistant District Attorney Zachary Popovich with the Special Victims Unit of the DA’s Office and Assistant District Attorney Arthur Mitchell presented the case to the jury. Judge Reginald Badeaux presided over the four-day trial. Detective Scott O’Shaughnessy with the Slidell Police Department headed the investigation.
According to testimony from the trial, a mother brought her pre-teen daughter to the Slidell Police Department in September, 2021, to report that Lenderay Wilson had molested the young girl at a Slidell residence multiple times over an extended period. Detective O’Shaughnessy was assigned the investigation and arranged for the girl to meet with a forensic interviewer at the Children’s Advocacy Center’s Hope House in Covington. During the ensuing interview, the child disclosed that on several occasions, the defendant instructed her to remove her pants and then proceeded to touch her inappropriately. During one incident, the young girl said Wilson told her to cover her eyes. She said she did so but caught a glimpse of Wilson and saw that he was nude from the waist down. The child said Wilson abruptly stopped what he was doing when he became aware that the child’s mother was arriving at the residence. Detectives interviewed the child’s mother and she said she confronted Wilson when her daughter told her about the abuse. According to the mother, Wilson denied any wrongdoing and asserted the girl was “going through puberty early” and was overly affectionate toward him.
As part of their investigation, detectives interviewed Wilson. During questioning, Wilson repeated his claim that the young girl was excessively affectionate and would often climb into his lap. Wilson conceded he would get sexually aroused when she sat in his lap but said he did not act on those feelings. When confronted with the girl’s statement about seeing him nude from the waist down, he explained the girl may have inadvertently walked in on him once when he was masturbating in her bathroom.
At the conclusion of the investigation, Wilson was arrested for molestation. Following his arrest, Wilson posted bond and was released from custody. As a condition of his release, an order was issued prohibiting him from having contact with the young girl. During this past summer, with the trial date approaching, the mother brought her daughter to the District Attorney’s Office and the girl told prosecutors she had been confused and no longer believed Wilson abused her. Shortly thereafter, authorities were tipped off that sometime prior to their visit to the District Attorney’s Office, the mother allowed the defendant to resume having contact with the child, in violation of the previously issued court order. After the tip was confirmed, Wilson was arrested for “violation of protective orders”.
The victim’s alleged recantation was a focal point in last week’s trial. Defense claimed it was irrefutable evidence of the defendant’s innocence. But prosecutors presented jurors with testimony from a medical professional recognized as an expert in the field of child sexual abuse, who stated a “false recantation” can be triggered by the stress of having to go to court to testify. Particularly germane to this case, the expert explained a “false recantation” can also occur if the victim is not protected from her abuser after the abuse is disclosed. The young girl testified at trial regarding Wilson being allowed to resume a presence in her life earlier this year. To avoid interaction with him, she described how she would take her dinner to her bedroom to eat while the defendant sat at the table eating dinner with other members of her family. When presented with this information, the expert testified it constituted a “toxic environment” that could prompt a child to “walk back” a previous truthful disclosure of abuse.
After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury returned to the courtroom and announced its guilty verdict. Wilson faces 25 to 99 years in prison when he is sentenced, which is presently scheduled for December 12th.