Opening statements were held Monday afternoon in the trial of a former Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy accused of sex crimes.

David Neal Thomas, 45, is charged with molestation of a juvenile, aggravated incest and sexual battery.

Prosecutor LaKetha Holmes said in her opening statement that Thomas was a law-abiding officer by day, but a law-breaker by night. Holmes said. Thomas molested and had sex with an underage girl over a seven-month period when she was living with him in his Moss Bluff home. The girl was reportedly 15 at the time of the alleged offenses, between March and October 2009.

Defense attorney Wilford Carter said the charges against Thomas are untrue. Carter said the accusations were brought out of “retaliation” because the girl didn’t want to follow rules.

Judge Ron Ware will decide the case because Thomas has waived his right to a jury trial.

Argument in the courtroom was contentious, with Ware repeatedly telling both sides not to talk over each other.

The case has long been delayed. Thomas, a 19-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, was arrested in November 2009.

Ware ruled in April 2013 that the time limit to prosecute the case had run out, but an appeals court reinstated the prosecution of Thomas.

The girl’s mother testified Monday that on Oct. 21, 2009, the girl, who had been living with Thomas, called her and said that she wanted her to come pick her up. As they drove away, the girl told her mother that Thomas had sex with her. The girl’s mother reported the accusations to police more than a week later, after seeking advice from Family and Youth Counseling Agency.

Before testimony began, Carter moved to have one of the Sheriff’s Office detectives who investigated the case disqualified as a witness.

Dustan Abshire left the Sheriff’s Office to go to law school and is now a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s Office.

Carter said that created a concern because Abshire would then be both an advocate and a fact witness.

Prosecutor Carla Sigler said that Abshire had followed a “natural career path,” but he had no involvement in the case within the District Attorney’s Office.

Ware denied the motion.

(MGNonline)