An 18-year-old Gonzales area man received 15 years in state prison after admitting to ‘sexual acts’ with three youths nearly two years ago.
Last year, Ascension Parish prosecutors had accused Jourdan Randall Norred of raping a 12-, 13- and 15-year-old in August 2021 when Norred had just turned 17, according to court papers.
Judge Jason Verdigets of the 23rd Judicial District Court handed down the verdict under a plea agreement that prosecutors and Norred’s defense attorney had reached previously, court minutes say.
Norred had been set for trial on Wednesday. Early in the case, Norred’s defense attorney, Allen Davis, had asked the court to evaluate wither Norred was competent to stand trial, but a panel of mental health professionals had found he was, court papers say.
Under state law, Norred’s case was originally sent to juvenile court and he was being held in the St. Bernard Parish Juvenile Detention Center, where Ascension houses its juvenile offenders. Norred was later transferred to adult court.
Juvenile records are sealed, but typically the change from juvenile to adult court happens for the most serious juvenile offenders after a hearing before a judge.
On April 19, 2022, the Ascension Parish grand jury charged Norred as an adult with three counts first-degree rape, according to the indictment. He was arrested later that month and held in Ascension Parish Prison in Donaldsonville, court papers say.
With conviction, any of the three charges could have brought Norred a mandatory life sentence. Under the deal reached with prosecutors in the 23rd Judicial District, Norred pleaded guilty to three counts of a lesser charge of aggravated crimes against nature, the plea says.
Verdigets gave him three 15-year sentences that must be served at the same time, or what’s known as concurrently. That essentially means two of the sentences back up the other in case one is thrown out later on appeal. Norred will also have to register as a sex offender after his release, court papers say.
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