A Gonzales man was arrested Tuesday on accusations he molested a child over a period of more than six years that began when the girl was 5 years old, authorities said.
Kaid Delaune, 35, was an Ascension Parish sheriff's corrections deputy for about a decade but was fired in October 2022 for unrelated disciplinary reasons, more than a year before the molestation allegations came to light earlier this year, Ascension Sheriff Bobby Webre said.
The alleged molestation went on from Aug. 1, 2017, to Feb. 26, a time period that covered more than five years of Delaune's final years as a sheriff's deputy, according to the indictment.
The child told detectives that Delaune had inappropriately touched her, deputies said in a statement Tuesday.
Kaid Delaune
Delaune, formerly of St. Amant, turned himself in to parish sheriff's deputies and was booked early Tuesday, one day after the Ascension Parish grand jury indicted him, authorities said.
An arrest warrant was issued hours after the grand jury handed up the indictment Monday at the parish courthouse in Gonzales, according to court papers.
Delaune faces a single count of molestation of a child younger than 13 for more than a year.
A message left with Delaune's criminal defense attorney wasn't immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
Webre said Delaune was fired because he had unplugged a camera that monitored deputies working in a parish jail control booth. Delaune worked in the booth at the time.
According to sheriff's Facebook posts, Delaune was promoted to the rank of lieutenant within the Corrections Division in 2020.
Webre said his office learned of the molestation allegations in February from a family member of the child.
Detectives began their investigation, Webre said, and presented a case to prosecutors. He said Ascension prosecutors decided to bring the case to the grand jury before an arrest was made.
According to Delaune's LinkedIn page, he started with the Sheriff's Office in 2012. The page doesn't say that he had left in October 2022.
Online records show Delaune was awaiting the setting of bail on Tuesday in the Ascension Parish jail.