A Livingston Parish jury found Melanie Curtin not guilty on both charges of simple rape and video voyeurism in her retrial.
Curtin’s family gasped and cried in relief Tuesday night inside the Livingston Parish Courthouse after the jury delivered its decision following more than two hours of deliberation.
“I’m looking forward to freedom. It’s been a long time coming,” Curtin said outside the courthouse after the verdict.
Curtin, from Denham Springs, was originally convicted of first-degree rape in 2021 and received a life sentence without parole in 2022.
However, in 2023, an appeals court ruled that Curtin, 46, must be granted a new trial, stating the court “improperly admitted evidence that unfairly prejudiced the defendant.”
Prosecutors retried Curtin on a reduced rape charge compared to the original conviction.
Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose office handled the prosecution, said in a statement after the verdict that the office’s “disappointment is a grave understatement.”
“I remain deeply concerned about court rulings in this case that significantly weakened the protections of our rape shield law, “ she said.
The jury started deliberating late Tuesday after closing arguments wrapped up.
During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys presented two sharply different interpretations of a 17-minute video tied to the alleged rape in Curtin’s retrial, which is linked to the case of former sheriff’s deputy and convicted child sex abuser Dennis Perkins.
Prosecutor Cassidy Smith, representing the Attorney General’s office, focused on the first “nine minutes and 59 seconds” of the video, pointing out that the alleged victim did not move during the sexual activity.
“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a lewd and lascivious video won’t shut up,” Smith told jurors while referring to the footage involving Perkins, Curtin, and the alleged victim.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Jeanna Wheat argued that after those nearly 10 minutes, the alleged victim began moving their hands in a way that suggested participation in the sexual activity.
“Does that seem like non-voluntary control to you? It didn’t to me,” Wheat told jurors.
She also addressed Perkins’ sexual history, noting instances involving women pretending to be asleep during sex.
“Dennis Perkins has a documented sleep kink,” she said.
Curtin, a former real estate agent and past employee of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, was among those charged following an investigation into former Sheriff’s Office Deputy Dennis Perkins.
Perkins and his ex-wife, Cynthia, a former parish school teacher, were convicted of multiple sex crimes involving children, including offenses ranging from child pornography to placing bodily fluids on cupcakes served to junior high students.
Curtin’s case does not involve children.