The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office announced on April 17 that deputies responded to 41 complaints and made several arrests during the previous day.
According to Sheriff Gary Driskell, the most serious arrest involved Henry Manuel Rabelo, age 42 of Patterson, who was taken into custody for possessing child sexual abuse material and one count of sexual abuse of an animal. Detectives received a tip about Rabelo’s alleged possession of illegal material and obtained a search warrant. On April 13, detectives executed the warrant leading to his apprehension and transport to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking.
As investigators continued their work, they discovered additional digital files resulting in another warrant for Rabelo with further counts related to child sexual abuse material and animal abuse. He remains in custody with no bail set at this time.
The sheriff’s office also reported the arrest of Rufus Scott Ackman Jr., age 56 of Franklin, on charges including criminal trespass, driving while intoxicated, and hit and run. His bail was set at $4,500.
Another individual arrested was Kayala Sharae Jackson, age 31 of Franklin, on a warrant for failure to appear regarding possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia; she was released after posting a $2,000 bond. Harold John Edwards Jr., age 45 of Jeanerette, was booked on two warrants related to failure to appear for criminal neglect of family and possession of alcoholic beverages in motor vehicles; no bail has been set yet.
The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office said it remains an affiliate of the Louisiana ICAC Taskforce dedicated to investigating crimes against children involving technology. The office encourages parents and guardians “to remain vigilant regarding their children’s online activity.” For more information or resources about internet safety or reporting suspicious activity online, citizens are directed to visit www.stmaryso.com or MissingKids.org.