August 25, 2008
Church Rape Trial Resumes Today
AMITE -- Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday in the aggravated rape trial of the former pastor of Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula. Louis D. Lamonica, 48, of Holden, is being tried on four counts of aggravated rape for allegedly abusing his two young sons when they were 11 years old or younger. Under Louisiana law, an aggravated rape conviction carries an automatic life sentence in prison.Click Here For The Full Story......
Related:
Opening statements begin in trial for pastor facing rape charges
BATON ROUGE, LA -- Opening statements began Friday in the aggravated rape trial of former Pastor Louis Lamonica. Lamonica is the former pastor of Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula. He's being tried on four counts of aggravated rape for allegedly abusing his two young sons. For the past three days, Lamonica's attorney and prosecutors have interviewed 56 Tangipahoa Parish residents in order to pick a seven-man and five-woman jury.
Pedophile or puppet? Trial begins
AMITE -- Louis D. Lamonica confessed to raping his two young sons because he was manipulated by a self-proclaimed prophet who had visions of Lamonica's sins and insisted he admit them to be cleansed by God, defense counsel said in opening statements Friday morning. Assistant District Attorney Don Wall, however, told the jury in his opening statements that Lamonica is a pedophile who began having sex with his sons starting when they were 5 years old. Lamonica not only confessed these crimes to law enforcement authorities but also wrote about them “to a nauseating extent,” Wall told the jury.
