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FERRIDAY, La. — In two years, Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office reports helping 464 victims, including children and domestic violence victims, recover.

Also, in two years beginning in January 2022 through the end of 2024, CPSO logged over 120 people arrested for sexual crimes against juveniles.

While that number may seem high, Detective Cainan Baker of the CPSO Special Victims Unit said it’s likely no higher than it always has been. The difference is that his unit is investigating those crimes that in the past were “swept under the rug,” he said.

“I don’t think these cases are fun and comfortable to work and not everybody’s cut out for it,” Baker said. “A lot of people would just rather have this go away. And frankly, these are cases that tend to go away easily. The person who gets their lawn mower stolen will call the sheriff every day for two months. The person that was sexually assaulted wants it to go away. They don’t want to think about it. That’s just the reality of it.”

CPSO Chief Deputy Fred Middleton said under Sheriff David Hedrick’s administration, 911 calls for service in Concordia Parish have nearly doubled, increasing from around 5,600 in 2016 to around 9,600 in 2024.

“I believe that the calls to service increase because of the community’s trust in the agency and what we’re going to do,” Middleton said. “We’re always going to do what law enforcement should do, and that is take the calls and make the arrest if an arrest is warranted. That’s our charge. That’s what we’re supposed to do, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Not unlike the crime drama television series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” CPSO has its own team of three investigators acting as a cohesive unit and specifically tasked with sexual-based crimes and cyber-crimes, including Baker, Detective Randall Gohn Sr. and Detective Sarah LaCour. They are tasked with investigating heinous crimes, particularly those who prey upon children, Middleton said.

Together, the officers bring over three decades of investigative experience to CPSO.

“This is a dream team that I could not have assembled on my own,” Middleton said, adding even if he had “a first-round draft pick,” they would be top choice.

Part of LaCour’s experience comes from working with Operation Underground Railroad, an organization with a global mission to rid the world of sex trafficking. “I helped hold all kinds of different undercover ops to help catch pedophiles who were reaching out to children,” she said. She added coming to CPSO where she was trained is a return to her roots. “When I got the news that there was a spot here, I had to jump in. This place is amazing,” she said.

Gohn Sr. comes to CPSO from working with the Attorney General’s office to investigate crimes against children.

Gohn said he has been a law enforcement officer for over 24 years and was the first of the three to arrive at CPSO a little over a year and a half ago. Gohn said he saw things the department was doing and wanted to be a part of it.

Since that time, “We’ve upgraded the lab exponentially,” he said. “We pretty much have the best of the best, if you will. The chief and the sheriff basically said get what you need to make us the best, and that’s what we did.”

Baker, who has been in law enforcement for 16 years and previously worked for the Children’s Advocacy Center, was instrumental in the establishment of a multi-agency human trafficking task force at the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. He and Gohn had crossed paths prior to coming to work together at CPSO, he said.

“Randy (Gohn) and the chief are the reason I’m here,” Baker said. “I knew their work from when I worked for the Children’s Advocacy Center as a multidisciplinary team coordinator. … We started the multidisciplinary team here in Concordia, so that’s where I met them and just saw how much they believed in the mission. It’s rare in this business.”

Baker said not only does this team investigate crimes occurring in Concordia Parish but it also supports over 15 parishes in Louisiana. CPSO often works with other jurisdictions in Mississippi, Texas and sometimes the Federal Bureau of Investigations “because we are easy to work with, easy to communicate with and we have the technology to be able to succeed,” he said.

The CPSO team has also led forensics training as far as the Seattle Police Department.

“We can be a force multiplier,” said Gohn. “Last year we taught right around 60 law enforcement agencies on forensics from little Concordia Parish. That’s huge. All three of us have contacts now all over the United States because of it.”

Working right alongside investigations, another important piece that CPSO implements is a Victim Advocate, Brandy Spears, who ensures that the victims are “not left on the battlefield” to fend for themselves alone, Baker said.

Spears, who comes from a marketing background, found a soft spot for helping victims that is her “true calling,” she said.

Middleton said funding that was used to update the forensics lab and to provide more resources to victims came to CPSO through grants and private contributions. In 2022, the Community Foundation of Acadiana recognized CPSO in its Leaders in Law Enforcement Awards and awarded CPSO a $40,000 grant to continue its efforts, he said.

That provided the “seed money” to create the SVU, Middleton said. CPSO had been successful at obtaining more grants through Operation Underground Railroad and federal and state funds.

“Grants are more obtainable with numbers and our numbers speak for themselves as far as the amount of people Brandy has helped and the number of arrests we have made on perps,” Middleton said.

A personality trait they all share is a desire to help vulnerable victims.

“When a child gives you the biggest hug and says ‘thank you’ … it will change your soul,” Gohn said. “I actually have a service dog because I have PTSD from doing this for so long. … It’s the worst stuff you will ever see in your life, and it takes your soul away. But when I could put my head down at the end of the night and say we did our job, we saved this child today, you get up the next day with more drive and more dedication and devotion. Those innocent children — that’s our future. And if we don’t protect it, who will?”