New Orleans sex crimes operation nabs 30 offenders, recovers 5 missing teens

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) reported another successful sex offenders operation, which resulted in 30 arrests and the recovery of five teenagers previously considered missing and/or endangered.

Seventeen of the arrests were due to sex offender registration violations.

Operation Boo Dat 2021 ran from mid-October to Dec. 24 through a cooperative partnership between the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO), Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO), Louisiana State Police (LSP), and USMS New Orleans Task Force.

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office (TPSO), U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) New Orleans Field Office, LA Department of Child and Family Services (LA DCFS), LA Probation and Parole (LA P&P), Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Crimestoppers GNO also provided support during the operation.     

Highlights of Operation Boo Dat 2021 included:

RECOVERIES

• The recovery of a 16-year-old female JPSO runaway who left her residence in Marrero by allegedly stealing a relative’s vehicle and a handgun.  That teen, who was known to have ties to Bourbon Street and the Chef Highway area of New Orleans, was recovered at a residence in the 7900 block of Benson Street New Orleans.

• The recovery involved a 14-year-old female with possible sex trafficking ties being recovered at a motel off Read Blvd. in New Orleans East.  She was located along with a 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old female staying in a motel room. 

• A third recovery was the result of a collateral lead request from USMS Middle District of Louisiana to attempt to locate a 15-year-old runaway female for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.  That teen had prior human sex trafficking issues in Baton Rouge.  She was located living with her 17-year-old boyfriend and one of his relatives at an apartment in the 12100 block of North I-10 Service Road New Orleans.

• The fourth and fifth recoveries were of two sisters ages 15 and 16 with one missing out of St. Tammany Parish, LA and the younger sister missing out of Baton Rouge, LA.   Both females may be victims of adult(s) felony criminal sexual activities and they were recovered at an apartment in Baton Rouge with critical support from USMS Middle District of Louisiana and Baton Rouge Police Department.    

ARRESTS

• The arrest of a 17-year-old female who had been missing/runaway for some time was arrested in Hammond, LA on a Tangipahoa Parish felony warrant for Human Trafficking.  That female was also wanted on a warrant out of Natchez, Miss., for stealing a vehicle.  She is known to have prior ties to several female runaways from New Orleans as well as ties to organized gang activities.

• The arrest (Dec. 22) of Tier 3 Sex Offender Kuimar Stephens at a residence in the 6900 block of Yorktown Dr. New Orleans as he tried to flee out of a window.  A small quantity of what is believed to be Ecstasy was later seized off Stephens.  He was wanted on an Orleans Parish Criminal District Court warrant from August 2020 for Failure to Appear in Court on a pending felony Failure to Register as a Sex Offender charge and had not updated his registration since at least 2020. 

• The arrest (Dec. 10) of Tier 3 Sex Offender Lorenzo Oliver on a December felony warrant from the New Orleans Police Department related to the alleged First-Degree Rape of a 12-year-old female victim in an abandoned residence on the West Bank of New Orleans.  Oliver was convicted in 2015 of Attempted Forcible Rape and Sexual Battery in Jefferson Parish and must register as a sex offender for life.   

• The arrest (Dec. 7) of Tier 3 Sex Offender Anthony Roberts on a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office felony Failure to Register as a Sex Offender warrant from October of 2019.  He had been featured by Crimestoppers GNO as a part of their Boo Dat 2020 fugitive photo spread and was aware that he was wanted. Roberts was originally convicted in 1997 of Attempted Forcible Rape and must register for life.  He received a 20-year LA DOC sentence for the original conviction.  He was located residing at an apartment on Tabany Street in Metairie.

• The arrest (Nov. 8) of James E. Muse who was wanted on a LA Parole Violations warrant for not reporting to LA Probation and Parole for a considerable amount of time.  He was on parole for an Enticing Persons Under 17 into Prostitution in Orleans Parish and there have been reoccurring allegations reported to law enforcement of him being involved in sex trafficking.  Muse had been an Operation Boo Dat 2020 arrest related to the alleged 2020 charges of Aggravated Battery of a teen using a cigarette lighter and Simple Robbery.

• The arrest (Oct. 29) of Lamonte Versill Morris on a collateral lead request from USMS Southern Texas Corpus Christi Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force. Morris was wanted on a San Patricio County, Texas warrant from June 2021 for the alleged Aggravated Sexual Assault on a known 14-year-old female victim. Morris had gone on the run knowing that he was wanted.  He was located by the USMS New Orleans Task Force at a residence in the 3800 block of Dhemecourt New Orleans. 

• The arrest (Oct. 26) of sex offender David Douglas SMITH who was wanted out of Jackson County, Mississippi on a Failure to Register as a Sex Offender warrant from June of 2019.  His original 1996 East Baton Rouge Parish conviction was for Molestation of a Juvenile (9-year-old female).  He was found in the Hammond, LA area in late October 2021 based on a collateral lead from USMS Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force (Southern Mississippi USMS Office) SMITH had been living in Tangipahoa Parish for over two years without SORNA compliance. 

• The arrest (Oct. 25) of sex offender James Sorrell at a local homeless shelter in New Orleans where he was found to be staying under a false name.  Sorrell was wanted on a Texas Department of Corrections Parole warrant from November 2019 based on a prior Failure to Register as a Sex Offender conviction and he also had active Austin, Texas PD and Dane County, Wisconsin warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. His original 1987 conviction in Idaho involved a 7-year-old female victim. 

• The federal arrest (Oct. 19) of a sex offender for the alleged Failure to Report International Travel to Ethiopia to the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office as required by Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  His original 2004 Pierce County, Washington conviction was for Molestation in the Second Degree (2 Counts) involving a 12-year-old female with molestation allegations dating back several years prior.   He was located and arrested in Gonzales and the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.