A Jefferson Parish judge sentenced 33-year-old James F. Butler Jr. of Houston to life plus 75 years in prison on Tuesday for sexually abusing a child in Kenner, a case that began when the victim was about 7 or 8 years old and wasn't reported until the child was 12.
Jury Convicted Butler Last Month
Butler was convicted by a jury on Oct. 22 of first-degree rape of a victim under age 13, sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13, and indecent behavior with a juvenile under age 13, according to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office. The abuse began when the child was approximately 7 or 8 years old, and it occurred at least three times, prosecutors said. Those details were also reported by WGNO, which covered the sentencing.
The child's parents did not learn what had happened until the victim was 12 years old, at which point they alerted the Kenner Police Department, per the district attorney's office. That report set in motion the criminal case that ended with Tuesday's sentencing.
Life Plus 75 Years, Served Consecutively
The judge imposed a mandatory life sentence for the first-degree rape conviction, along with 50 years for the sexual battery count and 25 years for the indecent behavior conviction, with the latter two sentences served at hard labor. The judge ran the sentences consecutively, or back-to-back, and denied a motion from Butler's attorney to reconsider the punishment, per the same account from prosecutors.
Butler was arrested in Houston in July 2024 after U.S. Marshals took him into custody on a Jefferson Parish warrant, the district attorney's office said. At the time of his arrest, Butler denied abusing the child and claimed he had little memory of the period in question because of a seizure disorder, prosecutors said.
Mandatory Minimum Under State Law
Louisiana law classifies indecent behavior with juveniles as a felony offense, as outlined in the state's criminal code, and first-degree rape of a victim under 13 carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, according to the district attorney's office. Louisiana law also allows judges discretion to order multiple sentences served consecutively rather than at the same time, which is the approach the judge took in Butler's case.
