A woman sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a rape case connected to former Livingston Parish Sheriff's Deputy Dennis Perkins must receive a new trial, Louisiana's First Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Thursday.
Melanie Curtin of Denham Springs had been convicted in December 2021 and sentenced on March 21, 2022, in the state's 21st Judicial District Court.
But after reviewing records from the trial, the three-member appeals panel ordered Curtin's convictions and sentences vacated and remanded her for a new trial. The judges determined the court "improperly admitted evidence that unfairly prejudiced the defendant," and improperly excluded other evidence, according the ruling.
Curtin's charges stemmed from a wide-ranging child pornography probe into Perkins and his ex-wife, Cynthia. In separate cases, Dennis and Cynthia Perkins together faced 150 counts alleging they raped two children and an adult, produced child pornography and served schoolchildren baked goods on which Dennis Perkins had ejaculated, among other alleged crimes.Â
The case started with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, leading to the couple’s arrest in October 2019.
Curtin was accused of helping Perkins rape and film an unconscious woman in 2014. The video was discovered in connection with the investigation into Perkins by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office. Curtin's case did not involve children.
A former real estate agent in Denham Springs and also a former employee of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, Curtin had no prior criminal record before her aggravated rape conviction.
Cynthia Perkins, a former teacher at Westside Junior High School in Walker, accepted a plea deal in February 2022 and was sentenced to 41 years for her crimes. Dennis Perkins pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced to 100 years in prison.
