A 43-year-old Marrero man already facing child sexual abuse charges was ordered held without bail Friday after investigators said they found photographs on his electronic devices showing him sexually abusing the victim. Jonathan Este appeared in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court for the bond hearing, months after he was first arrested in the case and released on bond.
According to NOLA.com, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives searched electronic devices linked to Este as part of their investigation and found photographs depicting him abusing the victim. The victim's parents had contacted the Sheriff's Office immediately after learning what had happened, the outlet reports.
Este was booked with two counts of possession of child sex abuse materials, two counts of molestation of a victim under 13, two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile under 13, seven counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, and sexual battery of a victim under 13, per the same account. At Friday's hearing, Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider ordered Este held without bail on the single count of possession of child sex abuse material and set bond at $50,000 on the remaining counts. Este had pleaded not guilty after the district attorney formally charged him on July 7, court records show.
A Case That Began Earlier This Year
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office opened the investigation in March, and Este was first arrested on March 30. He was released from jail in April after posting a $250,000 bond, the outlet notes. The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office formally charged him on July 7 with one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile under 13, months before Friday's new developments brought him back before a judge.
Authorities say the victim told her parents that Este had inappropriately touched her for several years, with the abuse occurring while she was between the ages of 7 and 12, according to court records cited by NOLA.com's report.
A Prior Conviction and a 15-Year Registration Requirement
Este is not a first-time offender in this type of case. Court records show he was previously sentenced to prison and ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty in 2010 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He met the girl online, admitted knowing she was 13, and was 22 years old at the time of that arrest, the article notes.
For that 2010 case, Este pleaded guilty to carnal knowledge of a juvenile and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended. He was ordered to serve five years of active probation after his release and to register as a sex offender for 15 years, per court records.
Under Louisiana law, indecent behavior with a juvenile under 13 by an offender at least 17 years old carries imprisonment at hard labor for not less than two nor more than 25 years, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. Separately, state law makes it unlawful to produce, promote, advertise, distribute, or possess child sexual abuse materials, or to possess them with intent to distribute, per the Louisiana State Legislature. The supplied statutory text does not address how either law applies specifically to Este's pending charges.
A separate, earlier case also surfaces in NOLA.com's archives: a 2005 report stated that Jonathan Andrew Este was booked with forcible rape and three counts of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile after a girl reported he had raped her that November. That report said Este admitted having sex with the victim four times and acknowledged that he knew she was underage.
