A Gibson man faces up to 10 years in prison without parole after being found guilty by a St. Charles Parish jury this month on a sexual battery charge involving a 14-year-old victim.
Eddie Matthews, 55, will face his sentence without benefit of probation or suspension of jail time once Judge Timothy Marcel hands down his decision on Sept. 1. The conviction requires Matthews register as a sex offender.
The jury deliberated for approximately 2.5 hours before returning its verdict, bringing to an end a four-day trial that was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Rochelle Champagne Fahrig and Casey Dieck.
“I want to commend the young victim in this case for having the courage to come forward and cooperate with the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and my prosecution team through the trial’s conclusion,” said St. Charles Parish District Attorney Joel Chaisson II. “This conviction would have been impossible without the cooperation of this brave young girl and her family.
“I must also applaud the efforts of (Fahrig and Dieck) for their unfailing determination to see this case through to its just conclusions.”
It was the second guilty verdict result from a jury trial held in St. Charles Parish since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The first saw a Des Allemands man found guilty in April on a charge of aggravated criminal damage to property, stemming from a May 2020 incident where he fired a shotgun through the door of a Luling family member’s home with residents inside.
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