A Harvey man was sentenced to two life sentences plus 45 years in prison on Thursday (March 10), for his conviction of raping and sexually abusing a girl over a two-year period, beginning when she was 11 years old.

Clifton Raye, 48, was convicted as charged on March 1 of two counts of aggravated rape, two counts of sexual battery and one count of oral sexual battery.

The abuse occurred over a two-year period beginning in 2010 and were disclosed in 2013, when the child was 13 years old. He performed sexual acts on the child and had her do the same to him, according to trial testimony.

The state Department of Child and Family Services initiated the investigation after receiving an anonymous report, according to trial testimony. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office continued the investigation, leading to Raye’s arrest.

Raye had been incarcerated awaiting his trial since his 2013 arrest in lieu of a $1.15 million bond. He waived a trial by jury, leading it to Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24^th Judicial District Court to weigh the evidence during the daylong trial.

In announcing his verdicts, Judge Faulkner said he found the victim’s testimony to be “credible,” and Raye’s assertions to be “incredible.”

On Thursday, Judge Faulkner sentenced Raye to two mandatory life sentences for the aggravated rapes, 25 years for one count of sexual battery, 10 years for the second sexual battery count and 10 years for the oral sexual battery. He ran the sentences concurrently.

Raye denied the charges and testified that the girl’s accusations were “coerced.” He said nothing during the sentencing hearing.

Assistant District Attorney David Wheeler and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

 

A Metairie man was convicted Friday night (March 4) of sexually abusing a girl over a 4-year period, starting when she was 8 years old.

Simon Shokr, 44, faces a mandatory life sentence in prison for his conviction of aggravated rape, sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile.

The jury deliberated about 1 ½ hours before delivering its verdict at 11:35 p.m., ending the 3-day trial. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24^th Judicial District Court set sentencing for March 23.

The victim, who is now 16, is not being identified. The abuse began in 2008, when she was a student at a Metairie elementary school. Shokr, who was acquainted the child’s family, abused the girl without her mother’s knowledge, telling the child to tell no one.

“She didn’t tell for a very long time,” Assistant District Attorney Rachel Africk, who prosecuted with Assistant District Attorney Lynn Schiffman, told the Jefferson Parish jury in opening statements on Thursday.

An assistant principal at her elementary school described the girl as “one of our go-to students,” saying she was “very respectful” to teachers and was assigned to the safety patrol to help younger students.

“At a point in the fifth grade, there was a drastic change in her behavior and demeanor,” the assistant principal testified. “She went from a go-to student to a student who had to be disciplined. She had never been disciplined before. … It was a life change. It was drastic. It was huge.”

The child would not talk about what led to her behavioral changes, so the assistant principal said she alerted teachers to watch for her to determine whether she was bullied. The assistant principal also said she contacted the child’s mother, asking her to be vigilant in watching her.

The girl remained quiet about the abuse until she reached high school, where she disclosed it to two classmates, prosecutors said. Those students told a teacher, who had a mandatory obligation to report the allegation. That led to the investigation by the state and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Shokr, a businessman and native of Beirut, Lebanon who immigrated to the United States in 1989, denied the accusations. He asserted the girl fabricated the story because of upheaval in her family.

 

A Harvey man faces spending the rest of his life in prison for his conviction Tuesday (March 1) of raping a child during a two-year period beginning when she was 11 years old.

Clifton Raye, 48, gave no reaction when learning of the verdict: Guilty as charged of two counts of aggravated rape, two counts of sexual battery and one count of oral sexual battery.

“The court finds the testimony of the victim in this matter to be extremely credible,” 24^th Judicial District Court Judge Lee Faulkner said in announcing the verdict just before 5 p.m.

Judge Faulkner, who presided over the daylong trial without a jury, described Raye’s testimony as “incredible.” The judge said he will hand down the mandatory life sentence on March 10.

Raye was accused of performing sexual acts on the child, and having her do the same to him, before the allegations were disclosed in 2013 when she was 13 years old. The victim, now age 16, is not being identified.

The state Department of Child and Family Services received an anonymous report of the abuse, investigated it and contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors said. Doctors at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans found no physical evidence of sexual abuse, leaving only testimony.

Raye denied it and said the victim had been “coerced” into wrongly accusing him of rape.

Assistant District Attorneys David Wheeler and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

 

 

A 24-year-old Harvey man who pleaded guilty to violently shaking his 3-month-old son and causing a severe brain injury was sentenced on Friday (Feb. 5), to 15 years in prison.

Jeffery Lebouef Jr., of the 300 block of Manhattan Boulevard, pleaded guilty as charged on Monday to second-degree cruelty to a juvenile in connection with what authorities say was abusive head trauma, which previously had commonly been called shaken baby syndrome.

Judge Scott Schlegel of the 24^th Judicial District Court, who accepted the plea and handed down the sentence, also barred Lebouef from contacting his son’s mother.

Lebouef was arrested on Nov. 4, 2015, after he and his girlfriend rushed their child to Children’s Hospital because he had seizures and was unresponsive, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

Lebouef was at home alone with the child when the seizures began but denied knowing what caused the injuries, according to the report. The mother returned home and called a doctor after discovering her baby’s conviction, detectives wrote.

A Children’s Hospital doctor notified police after finding that the child, who was in critical condition, had an older brain injury in addition to the newer one, according to the report. The mother told detectives that Lebouef had “some animosity” for the child, because he questioned whether he was the father, according to the report.

When confronted by detectives, Lebouef confessed to causing the injuries and lying about them to his girlfriend and doctors, saying “he knew he was in trouble and the baby was hurt,” according to the report.

He told detectives that his son would not stop crying and that he shook the infant violently while yelling, “Why don’t you give me a break,” according to the report.

He said he dropped the baby off a bed and then threw the baby about two feet onto a bassinet, causing the infant’s head to bounce, detectives wrote.

In impact testimony on Friday, the baby’s mother said her son suffers from lingering effects of the shaking and possibly faces surgery as a result of the incident.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.