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After a more than 10-week investigation, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office has charged a Mamou man in connection with an alleged sexual assault in Cut Off.
Brian Lasage, 39, of 1937 James Ortego Road in Mamou, was previously held as a person of interest in two sexual assaults within a five-day span on East 37th Place.
Lasage is now being charged with one count of aggravated burglary and one count of sexual battery in the second alleged rape, which occurred on Jan. 9.
“I am convinced that the streets of Lafourche Parish are much safer because Mr. Lasage is now behind bars,” said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. “And they have been safe since his apprehension.”
Following the second alleged assault, deputies put out a description of a pickup truck they believed was connected to the case.
Webre said a deputy stopped a truck matching that description a day later just north of Bollinger’s Shipyard, where the driver was identified as Lasage.
“The deputy recognized that he appeared to be nervous,” Webre said. “And in addition to that, when he produced his driver’s license, there was a sex offender notification on his driver’s license. So cueing in on those factors, our deputy escorted Mr. Lasage here to the Criminal Operations Center as a potential suspect.”
Lasage was taken in for questioning, where he was eventually charged for failure to register as a sex offender in Lafourche Parish. Lasage was legally registered in his home Evangeline Parish, but he was not registered in Lafourche, where he had worked for several years in Port Fourchon.
While questioning Lasage, Webre said his investigators got an imprint of the shoes the suspect was wearing.
And on Friday, Lasage’s imprints tested positive as a match on the imprints on shoes found on the crime scene for the second rape, which gave the sheriff’s office probable cause to charge the Mamou man.
“Now that we can confront him directly with this evidence, it’s possible that he may choose to cooperate,” Webre said. “Or maybe even confess.”
The sheriff said the arrest is a step in the right direction for the parish.
For more than two months, the residents of the Cut Off neighborhood were fearful when the next attack may occur.
Webre said Lasage also allegedly made similar strange contact with two other women in the neighborhood, but no crimes were involved.
The sheriff said he hopes the community can be at ease now that Lasage has been charged with one of the sexual assaults.
“This is, honestly, as far back as I can think, the first case of what we believe or think could have been a serial sex offender or serial rapist,” Webre said. “And we appreciate the community rallying together and supporting our efforts to make an apprehension.”
Lasage has not been officially charged with anything in connection to the Jan. 5 rape.
Webre said that investigation will continue, but also said he believes Lasage may be guilty of both crimes.
“The elements of [the two crimes] are so similar,” Webre said. “The area or the locale is in such close proximity, that there’s a high, high probability, short of saying an absolute certainty … that this person is responsible for both of these crimes … There have certainly been no attacks since he’s been incarcerated and we hope no attacks subsequent to that. So I would say we’ve given the community the greatest level of assurance that’s humanly possible.”
District Judge Jerome Barbera upped Lasage’s bond to $500,000. But Webre said Lasage is not eligible to post bond because he violated his probation with the failing to register as a sex offender charge. Lasage was still on probation in connection with a 1991 rape conviction in Jennings and remains on probation until 2021.
The sheriff’s office is still investigating the first rape and is asking anyone who has potentially come in contact with Lasage to call 1-800-SHERIFF.
