Attorney wants ID’s on women in Dennis Perkins sex tapes

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Tucked away among the mounds of evidence in the case against former Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy Dennis Perkins is a videotape of him having sex with a handcuffed woman during what appears to be a traffic stop, an attorney in the case claims.

Now, that attorney, who represents the wife of Dennis Perkins, wants access to that video as well as others showing the former deputy having sex with dozens of different women. Several of the videos “were found to have occurred while Dennis Perkins was on duty as a Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Officer,” according to court documents filed this week.

Dennis and Cynthia Perkins are jailed on multiple charges including rape, producing child pornography, and participating in feeding desserts laced with his semen to school children at a school where Cynthia was a teacher.

James Spokes, the attorney for Cynthia Perkins, wants prosecutors to provide him copies of all the videos so he can identify and try to interview each woman. He believes their stories could help bolster his planned defense that Cynthia Perkins was a victim in all of this – forced by her husband to take part.

“We are very concerned they were coerced or forced into doing these things or performing these acts,” Spokes said following a court hearing on the issue Friday. “And, what if they end up serving on the jury or are part of this trial?”

Spokes says one possibility he is exploring is whether Dennis Perkins blackmailed any or all of the women into having sex with him.

He says attached to each video is a criminal background check of each woman.

Spokes says it is possible Dennis Perkins went to each woman, showed them the criminal background check he obtained, and threatened to tell their families, friends or employers about their criminal history unless they agreed to have sex with him.

“A special folder was created by Mr. Perkins with the individual’s name, containing videos and images of sexual acts being performed with Mr. Perkins,” Spokes wrote in a court filing. “The folders were organized as if they were trophies of women he had engaged in sexual acts with.”

Spokes says prosecutors with the Louisiana Attorney General’s office have refused to give him actual copies of those particular videos. Instead, they have invited him to their offices to view them there while they are present.

Prosecutors Erica McLellan and Barry Milligan argued the videos are not connected to the crimes at hand and should not be turned over to the defense. “Unrelated people - people who are unrelated to these crimes – should not be dragged into this situation,” Milligan said Friday. Milligan said turning over the videos would be a severe invasion of privacy for the women involved.

Presiding Judge Erika Sledge viewed several of the videos in her chambers Friday.

After that, she ruled that Spokes should make a list of each video he wants a copy of. If prosecutors decline to turn over any videos of that list, she says she will view each one and decide if they should be given to the defense.

Sledge also ruled Friday that the couple will be tried separately. Dennis Perkins is set to go on trial first, on July 12. His wife’s trial will follow at a later date that has not yet been set. Prosecutors, who requested that the couple be tried together, plan to appeal Sledge’s ruling.

Jarret Ambeau, the attorney representing Dennis Perkins, has another trial set to start on July 12. Because of that, he requested that the Dennis Perkins trial be moved to a later date. Ambeau plans to appeal her decision.

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