A walk-thru of the Natchitoches Parish Library-Campti Branch by Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Deputies on Sept. 10 at 3:40 pm led to the arrest of a convicted sex offender according to Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Victor Jones.
NPSO Patrol Division deputies were walking through the Natchitoches Parish Library-Campti Branch when they recognized 61-year-old Richard W. Black, a known sex offender inside the library.
Deputies asked Black to step outside where he was placed under arrest in violation of state sex offender laws which prohibits convicted sex offenders from being on public library property when victims are under the age of 13.
Black was convicted in the Tenth Judicial District Court in 1988 for Indecent Behavior with a Juvenile and again in 2016 for Indecent Behavior with a Juvenile.
The victims were under the age of 13.
Black is classified as a Tier III offender which requires him to register as a sex offender for life.
Richard W. Black, 61, of 200 block of Sonny Black Road, Campti, La., was transported and booked into the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center charged with 1-count of Unlawful Presence of a Sex Offender in a Public Library.
Deputies say while interviewing Black, he stated he had been visiting the library off and on for over a year.
In 2016 and 2017, Black signed a Sex Offender Registration Notification Act Agreement stating that a sex offender convicted of a sex offense when the victim is under the age of 13 cannot physically be present or on the property of a public library.
Black remains in the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center awaiting judicial criminal proceedings.
NPSO Sex Offender Coordinator Detective J. Byles is also assisting in the investigation.
Deputies S. Axsom and T. Johnson made the arrest.
All libraries should have pictures of convicted sex offenders and call the police if they see them in the library.
This guy looks like he could play Santa Clause. That’s a scary thought.
Yeah. I remember meeting a couple about 30 years ago who called themselves “Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.” They looked exactly the way a Santa and Mrs. Claus would look. They claimed to work as the characters in different places during the holidays. She made a point of showing their last name was “Lucas”, “Claus” when the letters are rearranged.