Louisiana mother, 32, is ordered to pay child support to man who ‘RAPED her when she was 16’ – AND give him full custody of their teen daughter ‘because she bought her a cellphone’

Crysta Abelseth, now 32, claims John Paul Barnes raped her in 2005, when she was 16

He was 30 at the time and offered her a ride home from a bar where she was ‘highly intoxicated’ with friends 

Instead, she claims he drove to his home and raped her which resulted in pregnancy 

Abelseth said she never told her attacker about the baby but he found out in 2011

Four years later, and demanded custodial rights, she then filed a police report disclosing the rape, but he’s never been charged  

Now, she has been ordered to share custody of the child and pay Barnes child support by Judge Jeffrey Cashe  

Judge Cashe she claims, made the ruling after Barnes complained that Abelseth gave the daughter a cell phone 

Abelseth has appealed the decision, maintaining that. Barnes should have been charged with, at least statutory rape, because she was under 17 at the time

Under Louisiana’s statutory rape laws, [Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile], anyone under the age of 17 is automatically a victim, if they have sex with an adult  

Flouting the Carnal Knowledge law is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a fine of $5,000.  

A Louisiana woman who claims she was raped as a teen by a 30-year-old-man, making her a mother at 16, has been ordered to give up custody of their daughter sixteen years later and pay him child support in a cruel legal twist. 
Crysta Abelseth, now 32, claims that 46-year-old John Barnes raped her in 2005 after she accepted a ride home from him from a bar where she had been drinking with friends. 
She was 16 at the time and had been in the bar with friends. 
Six years later, she says he found out about the baby but did nothing about it until 2015, when he suddenly requested 50/50 custody. 
The application prompted Abelseth to file a police report, alleging the rape ten years prior.
Paradoxically a judge has ordered Abelseth to relinquish custody of the her now teenage daughter and pay Barnes child support, she told local network WBRZ.
It was after he complained to a judge that she gave the16-year-old girl a cell phone.
Abelseth is now campaigning to win back her rights, and to see him prosecuted.    
She has also appealed Judge Cashe’s decision and has a court hearing scheduled for July. 

Abelseth did not explain whether or not she physically consented to the sexual encounter in 2015 which occurred when she was 16 – a year under the legal age of consent in Louisiana. However, Barnes was never charged despite Louisiana’s statutory rape laws that clearly states that anyone under the age of 17 is automatically a victim, if they have sex with an adult.
Known as the Carnal Knowledge Law, it applies to anyone caught in a relationship with sa minor, even if they are not aware of the age of the other party. 
In her 2015 police report, the 32-year-old states how she was ‘highly intoxicated’ when Barnes took her back to his home after meeting her in the bar where she’d been drinking with friends. 
‘On December 13th, 2005, I was out at a bar with friends. We were drinking and highly intoxicated. The driver left [the other friend] and I at the bar.

‘John Barnes offered to take me home. Instead of bringing me to my house, John Barnes brought me to his home. 
‘He proceeded to rape me,’ she told cops. 
She claims that once she found out she was pregnant, she let relatives believe that the baby’s father was a boyfriend.   
‘Everyone assumed it [the pregnancy] was from a boyfriend, and I let them believe that.
‘When my daughter was five years old, he found out about her, and once he found out about her, he pursued custody and wanted to take her away from me.
Despite filing the rape report and it being within the state’s statute of limitations, Barnes was never charged and in 2015, he was given 50/50 custody. 
The pair have shared custody for seven years but this year, Barnes obtained full custody. 
He complained to Judge Jeffrey Cashe that the girl’s mother gave her a cell phone. 
Now Abelseth is fighting to regain custody of her daughter. 
She believes that a sexual assault report she filed against him with Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office has not been thoroughly investigated. 
‘It was never assigned to a detective, and nothing was ever investigated,’ Abelseth alleged. 

Barnes, now 46, has never been charged with rape, despite admitting to fathering the teen when her mother was under the legal age of consent.
Louisiana has statutory rape laws known as Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile which dictate that anyone under the age of 17 is automatically a victim if they have sex with an adult, regardless of whether or not they physically consented to it. 
The crime is a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and a fine of $5,000. 
Not knowing whether the victim is under 17 at the time of the crime is not a defense.
It’s unclear why Barnes was never charged after staking claim to the child, and after DNA proved he was the father. 
Abelseth said, ‘He’s [Barnes], threatened me multiple times, saying he has connections in the justice system, so I better be careful and he can take her away anytime he wants to. 
‘I didn’t believe him until it happened.’ 
The Tangipahoa Parish sheriff’s department told WBRZ that the investigation into Abelseth’s claims was ‘open and ongoing’ – but has not moved since 2015.  
Abelseth said she didn’t think she could file a criminal complaint against Barnes after the day of the assault, and only found out that the statute of limitations would allow her to do so through a trauma counselor. 
‘I thought if I didn’t do it the next day, there was nothing I could do about it. 
‘I went to a trauma counselor, and he said, “No, you have 30 years after you turn 18.”
Although Barnes has admitted he is the biological father of his child with Abelseth, he has not been charged statutory rape, nor made to answer to her allegations of rape.