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Former deputy charged with felony enters not guilty plea in court

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PORT ALLEN- Former West Baton Rouge Parish Deputy Ben Arceneaux entered a not guilty plea to a felony malfeasance charge in court Wednesday.

After the felony charge came from a grand jury in December, Arceneaux was allowed to resign instead of being terminated. Arceneaux was initially investigated by the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office and was not charged. However, he was given a two-week suspension after two victims came forward alleging inappropriate behavior during a traffic stop.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit broke the story last summer. After requesting documents associated with the investigation the sheriff's office refused to release the documents and the television station's attorneys got involved. When the records were finally released, the documents were heavily redacted, but the family of one of the alleged victims told WBRZ that Arceneaux demanded oral sex.

The reports indicated that Arceneaux asked one of the women, "How far would she go to get out of a ticket."

Immediately, there were calls for his termination by corruption watchdogs.

Wednesday, Arceneaux declined to utter a word as he emerged from court. That comes two months after his attorney said Arceneaux was sorry for his actions and was accepting of the grand jury's decision.

Arceneaux is due back in court in April. 

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