By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Texas man accused of sexually assaulting his six-year-old niece.

Maj. Mike Tregre, a spokesperson for the St. John Sheriff’s Office said George Higgins, 20, of 134 County Rd., Liberty, TX, was booked with aggravated rape with a victim under 12 years old. Tregre said Higgins was transported to Sherman Walker Correctional Facility and is awaiting bond.

According to police reports, the incident occurred sometime on Wednesday at a motel in the 1100 block of East Airline Highway in LaPlace. The report said deputies responded to an unidentified female caller who stated that her six-year-old daughter told her and her husband that Higgins, the girl’s uncle, had touched her in her private part with his hand.

Tregre said officers located Higgins not long after that and obtained a complete confession from the suspect.

The investigation into the incident revealed that the mother and father stay at local hotels while the father does contract work in the area. Police reports said the mother made a run to the store, and that is when the incident took place on an air mattress inside the hotel room. When the mother was informed of what happened, she took the child from the room and contacted the Sheriff’s office from a nearby business.

Tregre said forensic examinations and interviews would be conducted with the child to continue the investigation.