'Family friend' at center of sexual assault claims
VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY) A Broussard family is fighting for justice for their teenage daughter who was allegedly involved in an inappropriate relationship with a man they said was a 'family friend'.
News 10’s Rodricka Taylor investigates the process with the family. We also hear from the alleged victim for the first time.
In 2019 Kaplan Police Chief Joshua Hardy says police served three felony arrest warrants on Mark Anthony Bon.
Following an investigation with the Lafayette Police Department, Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Kaplan Police, Bon was charged with:
● One count of indecent behavior with a juvenile
● One count of computer-aided solicitation of a juvenile
● One count of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile
The Moreau says they feel cheated by the justice system after an ongoing battle of court hearings.
“In Vermilion, we’re on the fifth continuance as far as moving forward with this thing. Why do they keep allowing his attorney to continue, we don’t know, and they can’t tell us why because apparently they don’t know either,” Mitchell Moreau, the victims father said.
He expressed his concerns moving forward as they fight to put this incident behind them.
"We're still in the same spot we were years ago, but the only difference is I'm grown now, and I can speak for myself,” said Carliona Goleman, the alleged victim who is now 19-year-old.
"I feel like it's just an overdrawn process that another person just paid their way out of."
Goleman is speaking for the first time with News 10 about the alleged incident.
Her father says the suspect was a childhood friend.
“We shouldn’t be in this position in the first place because I went to school with this guy Mark. From middle school to high school, my mom took him in, and he lived with us for quite a while,” Moreau said.
“He was taken care of and had everything he needed.”
After some time, Moreau says he and Mark reconnected their friendship and learned he was in the military.
As the suspect, he says his daughter also wanted to be in the military after she finished high school. That’s how their relationship formed.
Since speaking out, the Moreau family says other victims have come forward to the family with similiar experiences regarding Bon.