Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
LACOMBE, La. (WGNO) — According to data from the National Sex Offender Registry, there are more than 200 sex offenders living in Lacombe. That’s something residents say needs to change.
Residents in the Lacombe area are now calling for action after a woman was attacked at a laundromat on Sunday, March 3.
St. Tammany Parish deputies said 40-year-old convicted sex offender Nicholas Tranchant was allegedly armed with a knife, but the victim overpowered him, took the knife and stabbed him to death.
Now, residents are expressing their concerns about the number of sex offenders living nearby.
“He was here three months, and we know he committed at least one attempt. There is no telling how many attempts that he maybe has done,” said Lacombe resident Danny Hall.
Another resident, Matt Bindewald, said that this isn’t the first time a sex offender has attacked a woman in the Lacombe area.
“I hate to see someone lose their life, but at the same time the young lady that was assaulted not only does have to deal with the fact she was assaulted, but she also had to kill a man in self-defense, and she is going to have to deal with that for the rest of her life,” said Bindewald.
This is why they both believe it’s time for the parish council to do something about the growing number of sex offenders now living in the Lacombe area.
“I’m asking for a moratorium on any group housing of sex offenders, and, if that moratorium gets passed, I would like them to disperse what we have here now to different parts of the parish,” said Bindewald.
Hall said the ordinance is about more than just eliminating sex offenders in the area but providing them with better housing. He explains most of the homes are unkempt.
“They are living like animals. Thirty people in a building. The ordinance provides that they have to have security. Somebody has to be there. It gives them a structure,” said Hall.
He also emphasizes that if people want to see change, they have to show up when it matters.
“Whether they support an ordinance that put some controls over these housing encampments where the folks live or they can speak against it, for it or against it, but they need to come out,” said Hall.
The sex offender situation in Lacombe is up for discussion on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the parish council meeting on Koop Drive in Mandeville.
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