According to a unsettling report released Wednesday, five detectives in the New Orleans Special Victims’ Unit failed to perform a proper investigation of more than 1,000 cases of sex crimes and child abuse, with one detective being cited for stating simple rape should not be considered a crime.
The report examined the detective’s work from January 2011 to December 2013. The report revealed detectives filed follow-up reports on only 179 out of 1,290 sex crime cases. In some cases of potentially sexually abused children and rape victims, the claims went completely without investigation.
One detective stood out from the rest, named “Detective A”, who failed to investigate a case involving a three year old girl brought to an emergency room due to an alleged sexual assault.
He closed the case, without any charges, even though the toddler tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease. “Detective A” also closed the book with minimal or no investigation on two other cases involving children taken to an emergency room with fractured skulls.
Police officials report the detective has been transferred to patrol duty and is under investigation. The supervisor over the unit has also been transferred.