[StBernard] Authorities searching home, office of St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta

[Westley Annis]

Authorities searching home, office of St. Bernard Parish President Dave
Peralta

State investigators searched the home and office of St. Bernard Parish
President Dave Peralta on Friday morning, and seized computers from the
government building in Chalmette. It wasn't immediately clear what
investigators were searching for. 

Laura Gerdes, a spokeswoman with the state attorney general's office, said:
"I can only confirm that we are in St. Bernard executing a search warrant." 

"Their actions have completely shutdown the administrative function of St.
Bernard government until at least the end of the day," Peralta said after
entering his office shortly after 11 a.m. Friday.

He said "they took all our computers" in terms of the administrative staff.
"They also took paper," Peralta added, referring to files.

"They took files related to my defense in the case," Peralta said. "They
took files that are, in my opinion, attorney-client privilege."

Peralta declined to comment further, citing a gag order imposed after he was
indicted in April on a charge of sexual battery of his now ex-wife.

Assistant Attorney General David Weilbaecher, the lead prosecutor in
Peralta's criminal case, helped oversee the execution of the warrant. He
spoke with other attorney general investigators and St. Bernard sheriff's
officials on Friday morning at the parish government building. Investigators
were also at Peralta's home.  

A grand jury on April 23 indicted Peralta on the charge of sexual battery of
his now ex-wife, Sharon Schaefer. She accused him of handcuffing her,
forcing her to perform oral sex and raping her at their Meraux home last
fall. 

Peralta has denied wrongdoing, saying the bondage and sex both were
consensual and activities that he and his wife had engaged in previously. 

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office on Friday referred all questions to the
attorney general's office. 

Earlier this month, Schaefer asked a state judge to find Peralta in contempt
of a restraining order placed against him.

Schaefer claimed in the court filings on July 8 that Peralta "has continued
to harass and threaten" her and "has disrupted her well being" by sending
her "e-mails from various addresses, using the identity of mover (Schaefer)
and her family members to post comments on NOLA.com, and contacting mover's
family members."

Peralta also has declined to comment on that matter, citing the gag order.

Parish officials on Friday indicated that state officials seized parish
administration and IT computers and files. They said that the authorities
arrived at the parish government building about 7 a.m. Friday and that, when
they arrived at work, they were not immediately allowed to enter their
offices.

Schaefer has said that on Oct. 27, her 49th birthday, Peralta handcuffed her
before hanging her by her hands from a rope tied to the ceiling and forcing
her to perform oral sex on him. After he removed the handcuffs, she said she
fled to another room in the home and that he followed her and raped her in a
bed there.

Peralta has said she concocted the rape accusation out of spite, and that
injuries recorded during a medical examination the day of the incident were
self-inflicted. He has also cited an affidavit that Schaefer signed Oct. 28
in which she said she did not wish to see her then-husband prosecuted "for
any offenses arising from the incident which occurred at our home."

She has said more recently that she was coerced into signing that document. 

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune does not usually name people who report they
were the victims of sex crimes. Sharon Schaefer has publicly discussed her
allegation in media interviews and in court filings. 

The couple's bitter divorce became final earlier this month.