LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune
By Rebecca Catalanello, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on January 09, 2015
A change of guard in the Bienville Parish district attorney’s office is fueling new hope of reviving the investigation into sexual assault allegations at a north Louisiana boarding school. A grand jury this week declined to indict Mack W. Ford, 82, founder of the now-shuttered New Bethany Home for Girls in Arcadia, where at least four former residents have told police they were molested in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
After a year-long investigation, District Attorney Jonathan Stewart said the grand jury found the statute of limitations to be problematic to securing an indictment. But Danny Newell, who replaces Stewart on Monday, said he plans to review the file once he takes office.
Newell, formerly an assistant district attorney under Stewart, said Thursday he knows little about the New Bethany case and wasn’t aware until recently that a grand jury had convened in the matter. “Once I get in office and have had a chance to review the file, I will be happy to talk to you about it,” he said.
Stewart forced Newell to resign from his prosecutor position in Claiborne Parish in April 2013 after he indicated his intent to run for Stewart’s office, according to the Haynesville News. In 2014, both registered to run for district attorney, but Stewart soon withdrew from the race and Newell won, defeating another candidate.
The grand jury’s decision marked a clear blow to some former residents of New Bethany. In recent years, they reconnected with one another through the Internet and, in emotion-filled message boards and blogs, began reliving what many describe as painful memories of harsh punishment, brutal isolation and relentless warnings regarding God’s wrath.
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