Former Ascension Parish deputy indicted for enticement of minor, penalties for registered sex offenders

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging 34-year-old Todd Eric Tripp of Sorrento, a former deputy with the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, with enticement of a minor and felony offense involving a minor by a registered sex offender. 

Tripp's career as an APSO deputy reportedly ended when he was fired after an initial arrest in 2013.

Tripp appeared for his arraignment and pled not guilty to the pending charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Louisiana.

According to the criminal complaint that preceded the indictment, between around July and October 2020, Tripp sexually abused a minor on at least five occasions at Tripp’s home and at hotels. 

Tripp, a registered sex offender, was previously convicted of state offenses involving minors.   

If convicted of these charges, Tripp faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.

The matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the York County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Office. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner and Criminal Chief Jamie A. Flowers Jr.    

An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury.  The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.