Section 615.1 – Reports; review by district attorney

May 13, 2021 | Family Law, Louisiana

A. When a law enforcement agency receives a report of a crime involving sexual abuse of a child, including but not limited to those received pursuant to Louisiana Children’s Code Article 610(E)(3), the law enforcement agency shall:

(1) Maintain a report containing all information listed in Louisiana Children’s Code Article 610(B) and (C), if known, and conduct a full investigation of the allegations.
(2) Maintain the confidentiality of the identity of the reporter in accordance with R.S. 46:56.
(3) After investigation of the report of child sexual abuse by the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the reported incident, send the investigative file to the district attorney for review whether or not an arrest is made.
B. In cases involving allegations of sexual abuse of a child:

(1) If the district attorney determines that the report has been fully investigated and there is insufficient evidence to establish probable cause for arrest, the district attorney shall upload the information contained in the report pursuant to Louisiana Children’s Code Article 610(B) and (C) to the central registry for children in need of care maintained by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information in the office of state police if an alleged perpetrator has been identified. The information uploaded to the registry shall also include the name of the law enforcement agency that handled the investigation of the complaint.
(2) If the district attorney determines that the report needs further investigation, he shall refer the report to the multidisciplinary team established pursuant to Louisiana Children’s Code Article 507 et seq. If, after a multidisciplinary team investigation, there is still insufficient evidence to establish probable cause for an arrest, the pertinent information in the report shall be uploaded to the bureau as provided in Subparagraph (B)(1) of this Article.
(3) In no case shall the district attorney forward information to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information in the office of state police when the district attorney finds, based on the investigation, that the allegations are false.

La. Ch.C. § 615.1

Acts 2006, No. 394, §1.