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LAPLACE – In July 2021, prosecutors from the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney’s Office successfully convicted Larry Dillon, Jr., 45 of Reserve, for the charges of Second-Degree Rape, Home Invasion, and Sexual Battery after a St. John jury heard the case and unanimously found him guilty.

Later, on November 18, 2021, Judge Nghana Lewis sentenced Dillon to 40 years on the count of Second-Degree Rape, 30 years on the count of Home Invasion, and 10 years on the count of Sexual Battery. These sentences represented the maximum available penalty under the normal sentencing guidelines. However, prosecutors with the St. John the Baptist District Attorney’s Office, having reviewed Dillon’s criminal record, subsequently sought a sentence under the Louisiana Habitual Offender Statute, which enhances the sentence of repeat and violent felony offenders.

On January 6, 2022, after a contradictory hearing before Judge Lewis in Edgard, the Court found that pursuant to the law and evidence Dillon should be sentenced as a third time offender. At the hearing, Dillon admitted that he did in fact have the two alleged prior felony cases, which included convictions for Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine as well as a conviction for a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. After a review of the case, evidence, and hearing argument for the State and Dillon, Judge Lewis resentenced Dillon as a habitual offender to the enhanced terms of 50 years for the charge of Second-Degree Rape, 45 years for the charge of Home Invasion, and 15 years for the charge of Sexual Battery. These sentences were ordered to run concurrently, and Dillon will be required to serve the sentence without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Pursuant to statute, as a third time felony offender, Judge Lewis was required to sentence Dillon to a prison term ranging from two thirds the maximum sentence to two times the maximum sentence. In other words, Dillon faced a prison term ranging from approximately 26 years and up to eighty 80 years for his offenses.

The charges stemmed from the September 17, 2017, rape of a local woman inside of her home. At the trial prosecutors proved that Dillon broke into the residence while the victim was asleep. He proceeded to rape her and commit a sexual battery upon her before forcing her into her bathroom and threatening to kill her.

After Dillon left, the victim received medical treatment where DNA evidence was recovered linking Dillon to the crimes. Additionally, the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office located DNA evidence at the residence that directly linked Dillon to the crime.

Prosecuting the multiple offender motions were Assistant District Attorneys J. Philip Prescott, Jr. and Geoffrey Michel of the District Attorney’s Office and Dillon was represented by private counsel, Joseph McMahon.