By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Trial lawyers with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office that have been handling the case against a 16-year veteran of the St. John Sheriff’s Office charged with rape and attempted sexual battery have decided to turn their case over to a neighboring parish’s District Attorney’s Office.

Tammi Arender, director of communications for the state Attorney General’s office said that all prosecution against former St. John Sheriff’s Lt. Allan Wayne Schaeffer would now go through the Ascension Parish District Attorney’s Office. Arender said a breakdown between prosecutors and one of the alleged victims in the case led to the change.

“A good rapport between the prosecutor and the victim is critical in criminal cases,” Arender said. “We felt that because that rapport was no longer present, another prosecutor could more effectively handle the case.”

Arender could not provide specifics as to the cause of the relationship breakdown just saying that it was a personal matter.

Schaeffer was a long-time, well-respected veteran of the Sheriff’s Office before being indicted in January of this year on charges of aggravated rape, second-degree battery, and attempted sexual battery. Schaeffer was fired from the force in October of 2007 after a State Police investigation into complaints filed by a former girlfriend and two other women.

Upon his arrest, Schaeffer was charged with one count of aggravated rape, stemming from a 2005 incident, one count of second-degree battery, from a May 2005 incident, and one count of attempted sexual battery, stemming from a February 2007 incident. He was detained in LaPlace, but released on a $335,000 personal surety bond.

The results of the State Police investigation had been turned over to the St. John District Attorney’s Office, but then District Attorney John Crum recused his office from the investigation because of a conflict of interest. Schaeffer had been involved in multiple cases being handled by the St. John D.A. The state attorney general’s office had been handling the case since January.