Republican facing child sex charges set to become Louisiana police chief after his only opponent drops out

The town of Elizabeth, Louisiana may soon have a man facing two pending child rape charges as its police chief. As per IB Times, Republican candidate Christopher Paul was arrested in September over allegations of sexual activity with two 13-year-old girls and is currently out on bond.

Paul was set to face an election against his opponent Zachary LaCaze, who has reportedly quit the race as it conflicts with his federal employment. According to KPLC, LaCaze currently works in civilian security at Fort Polk, and had been told that job was mutually incompatible with a campaign to be police chief.

LaCaze said on Facebook that the Hatch Act means he can’t maintain his current role and run in the election, saying: “As much as I love being a police officer and as much as I wanted to be your Chief of Police, I have a responsibility to my family. My full-time job is what provides for my wife and son, and I cannot take that away from them. So, as much as it hurts me, I have to step away from this election.”

“I have a lot of concerns if it happens”

LaCaze was asked whether his withdrawal clearing the path for a man accused of child rape to become police chief, bothered him. He said: “I have a lot of concerns if it happens, but it’s out of my hands.”

If LaCaze is out of the race, Paul is running unopposed and, according to KPLC, he “plans to stay in the race.” The Secretary of State’s office also confirmed that the pending child rape charges don’t disqualify Paul from holding office as local police chief, so long as he isn’t actually convicted of a felony. In addition, the qualifying deadline for the Dec. 12 ballot has now passed, so nobody new can enter the race.

The IB Times quotes Mayor Mandy Green, who underlines that Paul must be treated as presumed innocent, pointing out that he hasn’t been convicted of anything. As such, she says neither she nor the Board of Aldermen had any authority under state law to remove Paul from the ballot.

However, it seems that the board has one last-ditch ace up its sleeve that they may be able to deploy against Paul. As per the report, the Board of Aldermen has approved a separate proposition on the ballot that would change the role of local police chief from an elected office to one appointed by the local council. This would theoretically nullify the election itself, allowing the aldermen to place someone they consider more appropriate in the office.