Kidnapping Suspects And Accused Child Sex Abuser Behind Bars In St. Martin Parish

Two men suspected in an alleged kidnapping Saturday and a man accused of child sex abuse last month have all been arrested in two separate cases.

Early Saturday morning, Major Ginny Higgins with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office says deputies responded to a call that a male was being kidnapped in rural St. Martinville on Wilfred Champagne Road. Major Higgins says the two men tried to get away from the deputies by car and by foot.

Officers arrested 35-year-old Bryan Briscoe of Lafayette within several hours. Deputies, with help from the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force and the Lafayette City Marshals, were eventually able to catch 41-year-old Robert Derik Batiste of St. Martinville on Tuesday.

Briscoe is in the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center on a $250,000.00 bond. He faces the following charges:

• Second Degree Kidnapping
• Resisting an Officer
• Armed Robbery

Batiste, after getting booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, has been transferred into the St. Martin Parish Parish Correctional Center on a $500,000.00 bond. He faces the following charges:

• Attempted First Degree Murder
• Armed Robbery
• Second Degree Kidnapping
• Aggravated Flight From An Officer

Police are still investigating. You're asked to call the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office at (337) 394-3071 if you have any information.

On January 24, 2013, Major Higgins says an investigation began on the alleged child sex abuse. As the investigation progressed, police identified 40-year-old Michael Mullenix of Breaux Bridge as the suspect.

Mullenix was arrested Thursday and has been booked into the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center on a $40,000.00 bond. He has been charged with Felony Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile.