On July 23, 2026, an Ascension Parish Jury found 43-year-old Joshua Bleakley of Prairieville, LA, guilty of First-Degree Rape – Victim Under 13 Years of Age and Aggravated Crimes Against Nature (14 counts). Bleakley was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lana Chaney and Adam Koenig. Presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Steven Tureau. 

On April 19, 2019, Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Deputies handled a walk in complaint at the Ascension Parish Courthouse regarding a juvenile female under the age of 13 years old being sexually assaulted by Joshua Bleakley. Detectives conducted witness interviews and ultimately obtained a detailed confession from Joshua Bleakley regarding these allegations. Bleakley was arrested and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. 

Upon the jury returning a guilty verdict in this matter, sentencing was deferred to a later date pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation. 

On Monday, Joshua Bleakley appeared before the Honorable Ad-Hoc Judge John LeBlanc for sentencing. On the charge of First-Degree Rape – Victim Under 13 Years of Age, Bleakley was sentenced to life in prison. On the charges of Aggravated Crimes Against Nature (14 counts), Bleakley was sentenced to 99 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections on each count to run concurrent with one another. The life sentence and the 99-year concurrent sentences are to run consecutively to one another.