[StBernard] Case involving St. Bernard president's alleged rape of his wife forwarded to parish DA

[Westley Annis]

Case involving St. Bernard president's alleged rape of his wife forwarded to
parish DA
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 

State Police have forwarded the case involving a rape allegation against St.
Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta to the parish District Attorney's
Office, the police agency said.

The full report concerning the investigation into the alleged rape of a
woman at Peralta's home on Oct. 27 has been completed and was forwarded to
the parish district attorney's office for review in late November, according
to Michele Giroir, an attorney for the State Police.

Giroir stated that the report is not being made public because the
possibility of criminal prosecution continues.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune does not routinely identify people who say
they are victims of sexual crimes. But Peralta, in response to news reports
about an alleged sexual assault, identified the woman who made the
allegation as his wife, Sharon Schaefer Peralta.

Dave Peralta said in October that the incident was a "domestic disagreement"
and that his wife had dropped all charges. Sharon Peralta has not commented
publicly about the case.

Dave Peralta on Tuesday said: "As far as I know, this matter is over. My
wife is seeking help in this matter and that is really all I am going say
about it."

According to State Police records, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office
received the initial complaint, which alleged that at about 11 a.m. on Oct.
27, Peralta raped an adult female at his home on the 4400 block of Newport
Street in Meraux.

About 2:45 p.m. on the same day, the Sheriff's Office requested that State
Police detectives in New Orleans take over the investigation, according to a
brief report on that initial complaint.

The rape allegedly occurred on a Sunday. The following Tuesday, Oct. 29,
Dave Peralta released a statement that said his wife had dropped all charges
against him.

"Today my wife Sharon informed Louisiana State Police in video statement
that she has decided to drop all charges stemming from a domestic
disagreement," that one-paragraph statement from Peralta read. "It is
regrettable that law enforcement officials were summoned into this personal
dispute. Sharon and I are sorry that this matter has escalated beyond a
private matter."

Sharon Peralta is a paralegal and has worked in parish government since
2007. The Peraltas began dating in early 2008, and when Dave Peralta took
office in January 2012, the two were engaged, they have said previously.
They married on March 31, 2012.