Former police officer sentenced to 40 years for child molestation
CROWLEY, La. (KLFY) – A former Crowley and Lake Arthur Police officer was sentenced Tuesday morning to 40 years in prison. Damon Broussard's crime is molesting a young child. His sentence comes nine years after charges were initially brought against him. He was found guilty back in November of 2021.
Six women who claimed to be Broussard's victims and testified against him were in the Acadia Parish Courthouse to see the sentence through with their own eyes.
"They were very grateful, and they were very happy," recalled Assistant District Attorney for Acadia Parish Brian Langford who argued on behalf of the victims and spent 15 minutes after the sentence speaking to each one.
Langford, under District Attorney Don Landry, took up the case in 2021. When he reached out the victims he remembered, “They were furious. They were angry. They felt that they had been forgotten. They felt that law enforcement, the criminal justice system, that everybody had just let them down.”
A teenager brought the first charge of molestation of a juvenile under 13 against Broussard in the year 2013, but her case and others languished in court for almost 8 years.
The six victims of Damon Broussard had spent most of their lives knowing the man who molested them as children had not faced justice for it. That changed Tuesday when he was given 40 years hard labor. Broussard is now 45 years old and will be 85 years old once his sentence is complete.
"The streets are safer, and the community is safer," Langford said. "It's more concerning when you're dealing with vulnerable pockets of the community such as children."
It's also concerning that Broussard served with the Crowley and Lake Arthur Police Departments and was an officer during the at least five-year span he's accused of committing sex crimes against pre-teens.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Langford said the victim in the sentenced case was an eight at the time she was molested but it took until she was 14 to bring her case to authorities.
"It's unrealistic to think that didn't play a part to some extent at least subconsciously. When you have a police officer, somebody who takes an oath to serve and protect the community, and then they take that trust and they take that oath and they violate it in such a heinous way for their own benefit that's very disturbing," Langford said.
Child molestation is one of the most unreported crimes, and the 15th Judicial District hopes this sentence gives more victims to courage to come forward.
"My hope is that more people will come forward and that the community can embrace them and support them, so we can continue to protect our citizens," Langford concluded. "We're not going to tolerate this and we are going to do everything that we can to bring the victims of these heinous crimes some justice and some closure."
Broussard still has several other charges pending including more child molestation. Langford is unsure at this point whether or not he will go forward with them or not after this sentence.
The former officer is likely to appeal this sentence according to Langford. The assistant district attorney said, "He (Langford) has that right, and it's our job to address any concerns or issues that he raises on appeal, and we'll do that."