Patterson man gets life sentences, found to be serial sex offender

A Patterson man has been sentenced to two life prison terms as a serial sexual offender, District Attorney Bo Duhe announced Tuesday.

Arthur Donald Lacoste Jr., 56, Patterson, was convicted May 4 by a St. Mary Parish jury on charges of sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile. The victim was a youth whom Lacoste had befriended and abused over several years ending in 2020, when the youth made a report to the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office.

The maximum prison sentences for the two crimes total 17 years.

"However, Louisiana has special sentencing provisions for serial sexual offenders which require that serial sexual predators be sentenced to life imprisonment, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence," Duhe said in a press release.

Lacoste, a registered sex offender, had been convicted in 1998 on multiple counts of molestation of a juvenile and and sexual battery involving more than one victim.

In 2004, Lacoste was convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

"Accordingly, the District Attorney’s Office filed a serial sex offender bill of information seeking to impose those special sentencing provisions in this case," Duhe said

At a Nov. 16 hearing, District Judge Keith R.J. Comeaux found that Lacoste was a serial sexual offender and sentenced Lacoste to life without parole on each of the two May 4 convictions.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Reasoner prosecuted the case with assistance from Heather Hendrix.