A Biloxi man has been given two life sentences for more than a dozen counts of sexual battery after a two-day trial in Harrison County.
John Nathaniel Pierre, 45, was given two sentences of life in prison after a three-hour deliberation from a Harrison County jury found him guilty of 14 counts of sexual battery on two teenage victims.
Biloxi police began an investigation after the mother of the two victims reported the crimes. It was discovered that earlier in the same day, one of the victims disclosed to her that Pierre had been sexually assaulting her and the other victim for multiple years. The mother reportedly confronted Pierre, who fled in his car.
Investigators also learned in the case that Pierre had begun assaulting the victims in Louisiana when they were just 6 to 7 years old. The abuse continued when the family moved from Louisiana to Biloxi – as Pierre would wait until the mother left for work and then sexually assault them. Testimonies in court said that he would give them gifts, or withhold items from them, to entice them throughout the abuse.
“The victims showed amazing courage in participating with the investigation and telling the Jury what the Defendant did to them,” Assistant District Attorney Billy Stage, who prosecuted the case alongside Meaghan Smith, said. “Their strength in facing their abuser and detailing the horrific sexual abuse that he subjected them to shows their immeasurable strength.”
A recording played in court heard Pierre making incriminating statements regarding the abuse when he was confronted by one of the victims. He also was heard saying the teenage victim was trying to destroy his innocence.
When a Biloxi police officer attempted to stop Pierre’s vehicle and arrest him for the crimes, he fled and led multiple coastal county agencies on a high-speed pursuit, eventually ending on Interstate 10 and in the arrest of Pierre.
“Crimes involving the victimization of children will always be priority for this office. The Biloxi Police Department, and the tremendous work of the Investigator, was an invaluable resource in helping the victims through this process and bringing a sexual predator to justice,” District Attorney W. Crosby Parker said. “We pray that the closure of the criminal case will help the victims and their family in the healing process.”
During the sentencing phase of the two-day trial, the pair of victims addressed the court and detailed how Pierre’s crimes affected them. Before sentencing Pierre to two life sentences in prison, Judge Randi Mueller said to Pierre: “It was your job to protect them and guide them through life. Instead, you abused them and terrorized them for years.”