Cynthia Perkins: Teacher accused of SICK act against students gets 41 years in jail
LIVINGSTON PARISH, LOUISIANA: A Louisiana teacher has been given 41 years of jail time after she pleaded guilty to several child sex crimes, including feeding cupcakes to students laced with her husband’s sperm. Cynthia Perkins was arrested along with her husband Dennis in October 2019 and slapped with 150 felony charges, including rape, child pornography, sexual battery of a child, and video voyeurism.
However, on Monday, February 14, the 36-year-old woman took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against her now former husband, who was a Livingston parish sheriff's deputy when taken into custody. Cynthia had initially maintained her innocence against 72 charges for multiple sex crimes. However, she later confessed to making child pornography, second-degree rape, and mingling harmful substances, which reportedly refers to an incident in which she mixed Dennis' sperm to “season” pastries and gave them to Westside Junior High School students.
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Assistant Louisiana Attorney General Barry Milligan said on Monday, “These three (charges), we thought, were representative of what she had done and, by agreeing to the facts as we put them out on the record, she prepared herself to testify against Dennis Perkins.”
Reportedly, at the time of the ex-pair’s arrest, charges relating to a dog were also pressed against them. Following the arrest, Cynthia filed for divorce and also gave up her role as a teacher. She accused Dennis of manipulating her to carry out the crimes. Her attorney, Paul ‘Woody’ Scott, noted: “He is the real monster. That’s what she wants to make clear, it’s not about shifting blame, she took responsibility today, I mean, that’s what she did, but she looks forward to going after the real monster.”
Initially, Cynthia could have faced around seven decades behind bars. However, after she took the plea deal, several of the charges against her were dropped. She has now been awarded 40 years for second-degree rape and 30 years concurrent for sex crimes involving a juvenile under 13, in addition to a one-year term for the cupcakes incident.
Attorney General Jeff Landry said: “Today, Cynthia Perkins admitted to her crimes and pleaded guilty in court. She not only waived any right to appeal, and attempt to avoid conviction, but she also spared the victims from reliving her horrific crimes during this particular trial. Today’s conviction is in the best interest of our victims and justice. I wish to thank Assistant Attorney General Barry Milligan and Assistant Attorney General Erica McLellan for their work in obtaining this guilty plea, and we look forward to holding Dennis Perkins accountable for his crimes in the very near future.”
Assistant Louisiana Attorney General Erica McLellan spoke about how the victims’ families reacted to the deal. McLellan said, “They feel that this serves justice and better protects their children. She played a role in this and she acknowledged that today, but she was very much taken under the control of Denny Perkins, and he manipulated her and twisted her into doing a lot of things that she was not comfortable doing.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Dennis would face trial in May.