COVINGTON, La. — A Covington man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexual battery and molesting a young girl, who was the daughter of his fiancée at the time, according to the St. Tammany District Attorney's Office.
On Dec. 21 last year, Daniel Lascari, 41, was found guilty of both charges by a 12-person jury following a 4-day trial.
A handwritten statement by the victim was read aloud in the courtroom, she explained how "her life had been ruined" and asked the judge to give Lascari the maximum sentence allowed by law.
During the December trial, officials said testimony from witnesses found that the then 8-year-old victim had been molested by Lascari for eight months, when the victim said she noticed "bleeding" after she came from the bathroom at school.
Her teacher brought her to the counselor's office and the victim said that "she might be 'starting her period' or that it could be because her mother’s fiancé 'got carried away last night'." School officials immediately notified law enforcement and began investigating.
Officials said while investigating, the victim told them how her mother's fiancé would come into her bedroom at night, move her from a top bunk to a bottom bunk and rub peppermint lotion all over her body, including inside her private area. While he was doing this, he told her "This is the way people relax."
She was able to describe in detail how he moved his fingers and how he’d once made her massage his private part.
The victim's mother also testified at the trial and relocated with her daughter to another state. Officials said the mother testified to how the victim spent over a year in counseling and "would likely need further treatment."
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