Charges dismissed in hospital sex battery case

Mother says son’s life turned upside down by accusation

All charges have been dropped against a Marrero man who was accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a psychiatric patient at St. Charles Parish Hospital, according to court records.

Larry Neyland, 30, of 5221 Evans Drive, was originally booked last April with simple battery on the infirmed, two counts of sexual battery of the infirmed and oral sexual battery. Neyland was an employee of the hospital at the time of his arrest.

According to Regina Cyrus, a spokeswoman for the St. Charles Parish District Attorney’s Office, multiple witnesses questioned the credibility of the alleged victim.

“As such, the office decided not to proceed forward with the prosecution of the matter,” Cyrus said.

Ramona McCastle, Neyland’s mother, said that her son had never been in trouble with the law before this incident and that he was innocent of all charges. Still, she says her son’s life was turned upside down after his arrest.

“He hasn’t gotten his life back on track since this happened,” McCastle said. “He is separated from his family, who didn’t leave because they believed what was said, but because he lost his job and they couldn’t afford their living expenses any longer. His wife moved back home with her mother.”

McCastle said that when her son first began working at St. Charles Parish Hospital, he would take clothing to patients in need.

“He even took an expensive leather jacket that I thought was one of his favorites, but he felt someone needed it more than he did,” she said. “He was targeted for being nice and it’s a shame this happened to him.”

McCastle said that she felt her son was convicted in the media shortly after his arrest.

“We decided to Google my son’s name and there it was. The write-ups portray him as guilty,” she said. “As a result, my son’s life and family life has been ruined and his reputation damaged by the false accusations, links of constant reminders, pictures and write-ups of my son on the Internet like that.”

But McCastle said that now that the truth has come to light, her son is ready to move on.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, he just wants to get his life back together,” she said.