Former Bogalusa firefighter convicted in St. Tammany Parish sexual assault case

PARISH OF ST. TAMMANY, La. (WGNO) — A former Bogalusa firefighter has been sentenced after pleading guilty in a sexual assault case in St. Tammany Parish involving a nursing home resident.

District Attorney Collin Sims' office reported that Brandon Applewhite, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault of a physically or mentally disabled victim and sexual assault of a physically or mentally disabled victim on Tuesday, June 25 .

According to the District Attorney's Office, the case was filed in February 2022.

Court documents: State authorities took a phone from Applewhite as part of an unrelated investigation outside of St. Tammany Parish.

The District Attorney's Office reported that during a phone analysis, inappropriate images of a resident of a St. Tammany Parish nursing home and text messages “between Applewhite and an employee of a nursing home of the St. Tammany Parish Retirement Board during which the employee agreed to send the woman's illicit photographs” were found.

On Tuesday, Applewhite was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole and must register as a convicted sex offender after serving his sentence.

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