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The arrest of a 42-year-old Shreveport man on allegations of rape, extortion and other crimes has brought an end to nearly a month of terror for the Houma grandmother he met through a computer service two months ago.
Advocates for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence say the case, unusual in some respects due to its highly compressed timeline, is a prime example of how adept and insidious abusers can be, and why friends and relatives of potential victims need to exercise vigilance when they think something is wrong.
Lance Geary Laurent was booked Thursday into the Terrebonne Parish jail on a fugitive warrant for forcible rape; extortion; domestic abuse aggravated assault and domestic abuse battery. His bond was set at $147,000.
The Times is withholding the victim’s identity because the paper does not ordinarily identify victims of sex crimes.
According to court papers related to the case, Laurent met the woman, who had been employed in a white-collar profession, through an online dating service.
They met Sept. 1 and almost immediately Laurent became a major part of her life, moving into her home almost immediately.
Three days into his living with her, court papers state, what may have first seemed like a dream headed toward being a nightmare.
Laurent slapped the woman “so hard across her face that she flew onto the bed.”
When the woman yelled at him to stop, the court papers say, Laurent grabbed her by the hair and threw her onto the floor, then placed his head on her neck and said he would kill her.
He then allegedly grabbed the woman’s gun from a nightstand, loaded it and held the muzzle against her head, threatening to kill her, and then threatened to kill himself as well, stating, “God hated him.”
Laurent would not allow the woman bathroom privacy, and insisted that whenever she bathed it must be with him.
The woman tried to deny his next demand, that she place an ad on Craigslist and solicit other men so that he could make videos of them while they had sexual relations, court papers state.
“He then told her that he would kill or knows people that could kill her family members, her daughter, son and grandbaby,” a detective’s affidavit states. “She stated that she would do whatever she had to do to protect her family.”
When she acceded, Laurent allegedly picked the partners, who numbered six or seven in total. The men came to her home.
On Sept. 30, Laurent brought the woman to Biloxi and they were married. According to the court papers, he had already begun a spending spree using her credit cards, purchasing a Camaro, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a John Deere tractor, Rolex watches and other jewelry. The buying binge totaled nearly $250,000, according to court documents.
Detectives were first alerted that something might be wrong when a friend of the victim’s contacted a deputy she knew.
Both the woman and Laurent were questioned, but from the information they had at the time there was not, according to one law enforcement account, enough evidence for an arrest.
“It was more like he-said, she said,” a law enforcement source maintained.
Videos of the sexual encounters – during which, according to later information, Laurent ordered the woman “to be loud” – appeared and sounded consensual.
Laurent was released. But detectives made contact with another woman elsewhere in Louisiana who had a similar story to tell.
That gave detectives enough to move ahead with the arrest and a warrant for Laurent, who could not be located, was issued.
Laurent was arrested in Mississippi on a fugitive warrant and extradited to Terrebonne Parish, where he was jailed.
While the alleged offender staked his claim and gained control of his victim within a time that might appear unusually rapid, advocates for victims of abuse say the escalation can take any number of turns, and might just as easily happen quickly.
“Quick involvement, jealousy and control are the characteristics we often see,” said Melissa Williams, director of training for counselors at The Haven, a non-profit that provides shelter and other assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Williams and other advocates interviewed were provided details of the alleged crimes by The Times, to help them better identify issues that can help guide people either enduring domestic violence or with friends or loved ones of suspected victims. “A lot of this is what I see often in the counseling sessions of women who talk about their abuse. This particular pattern is not uncommon.”
Some people do have relationships where it takes a long time to reach the level of abuse in Laurent’s case, counselors said.
But they also noted that in cases where involvement is very quick, everything else, including the frequency or intensity of abuse, also moves quickly.
The severity of the case, counselors said, is particularly poignant given that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“They don’t all start out like this,” said Williams. “Sometimes they are subtle with their control, what you’re wearing or what you’re doing. It escalates to a point where if you don’t come home at a certain time to put you back into whatever they think you should be.”
It is important for anyone learning about cases such as this one to not compare their own situation when determining if a problem exists.
The victim in this case met her abuser online. But she could also have met him at a bar, a restaurant, a 12-step meeting or a church, experts note.
“We do that to keep ourselves feeling safe, to say this will never happen to us,” said Williams, who warned against judging how given victims handle their torment. “You never know what you are going to do.”
Noting particulars in the case leading to Laurent’s address, the advocates said the woman was most likely trying to survive particular moments, and had to comply in order to keep herself on base.
“We often don’t know what we will do when we are faced with trauma, a sense of a threat on our life, or our psychological well-being,” Williams said.
Friends and relatives of people who might be in abusive relationships, advocates said, should look for drastic changes and a shutdown of communications.
It is important, they said, not to judge, but to keep channels of communication open, so that the abused person feels they have a safe place to reach out to.
There is little question in Laurent’s case, Williams said, the potential existed for serious injury or death.
What people need to keep in mind, she and other advocates said, is that the abuse has usually started well before any blow is ever struck.
Emotional hits can affect the psyche as much as physical hitting, she said, and once the physical violence comes it is much harder for someone to leave.
The risks associated with such cases will be discussed at an open-house luncheon scheduled by The Haven for noon Friday, at the First Methodist Church on La. Highway 311.
Lunch is served at the free event. The public is invited.
