ST. TAMMANY- Heartbreak.
That was a Covington mother's original reaction when her 8-year-old daughter told her last month that her neighborhood best friend's dad had been sexually abusing her for the past two years.
"It's so hurtful to think of what she went through for so long and how terrified she must have been," said the woman, who we are not identifying for her and her family's protection. "It kills me to think about her innocence and the things that she's seen, about the things that she's done."
The allegation led authorities to arrest 49-year-old Jackson "Rick" Miller for first degree rape, as well as two counts of indecency with a juvenile for allegedly taking inappropriate pictures of the child, along with another young girl.
But that pain turned to fury when the mother learned this allegedly happened as Miller was free on bond for nearly eight years awaiting trial on child pornography charges.
"Beyond the anger that we were already feeling that this person that we knew and trusted had done this to our daughter, the added layer of knowing that the system allowed his case to slip through the cracks just enraged me," she said.
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The handling of that case, with dozens and dozens of delays on record, has left her concerned about seeing justice for her daughter. But she's also motivated to see more done to keep all children safe.
That's why she's calling for expanding the state's current sex offender registry to include an easily accessible database of people arrested for sex-related crimes awaiting trial. Names, pictures, birthdays and addresses of all arrested adult suspects are already public record in Louisiana.
"I understand due process. I understand the justice system and I accept the fact that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But if that process is going to take almost a decade, seven, eight years, with over 70 continuations, we as parents need to have a way to track these people. We need to be able to keep an eye on them," she said. "There's no reason that what happened to my daughter should happen to anybody else's daughter."
The child's mother says conversations with several local justice system leaders Wednesday eased her concerns about the future of her family's case. But it's something she's looking to hire her own attorney to keep an eye on.