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West Feliciana man indicted for first-degree rape of daughter turns self in Wednesday
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WEST FELICIANA — A West Feliciana Parish man accused of raping his daughter turned himself in after he was indicted on upgraded charges.
Jacob Mansell was originally arrested in March for sexual battery and second-degree rape based on allegations from his 13-year-old daughter and a doctor's evaluation. Monday, a grand jury decided to charge Mansell with first-degree rape. His bond was set at $250,000.
Mansell's ex-wife, Bridgette Williams, described what the doctor told her after evaluating the girl earlier this year.
"The doctor came out, she talked to me and she said [victim] has disclosed that this has been happening since she was 10 and that it's her dad," Williams said.
Mansell had previously posted a $195,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with the girl under conditions set by Judge Sydney Picou Walker. In April, Walker rescinded that order.
That same day, Judge Kathryn Jones gave Mansell majority custody of all three children.
According to Mansell's attorney, Cy D'Aquila, the decision was based on the opinion of Dr. Allen Taylor, who advised the court that this was the worst case of parental alienation he had ever seen. Parental alienation is when a child is manipulated by one parent into feeling a certain way about the other.
Despite a gag order in the case, Cy D'Aquila took to Facebook to air his grievances with the new indictment.
"The district attorney just got tired of getting his teeth kicked in with the charges that were pending that he thought he'd try this," D'Aquila said.
"Jacob Mansell is innocent," D'Aquila said. "The facts will prevail."
Cy is a frontrunner for the district attorney spot Sam is vacating in October.
Since the new indictment, Judge Jones, who was not recused in the civil portion of the legal battle, ordered the children be placed in Williams' mother's custody while the criminal case plays out.
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