OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Belle Chasse, LA - Sheriff Gerald A. Turlich, Jr. announces the arrest of Justin Arendt, 30, of Belle Chasse for Sexual Battery and Indecent Behavior with a Juvenile under the Age of Thirteen after a Plaquemines Parish Grand Jury returned a true bill of indictment on Friday, May 12, 2023.

In October of 2022, detectives with the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office (PPSO) received a complaint regarding a possible sexual battery of a juvenile involving Arendt. The PPSO Internal Affairs Division immediately began an internal investigation as Arendt was currently employed with PPSO as a patrol deputy. Investigators discovered Arendt to be in violation of the PPSO Standards of Conduct policy unrelated to the incident and he was immediately terminated.

Subsequently, the PPSO Criminal Investigations Bureau began investigating the sexual battery of a juvenile and ultimately forwarded the investigation to the Plaquemines Parish District Attorney's Office, who presented the case to the grand jury.

Arendt will be held at the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center while awaiting an appearance in Magistrate Court.

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Contact Information:
Captain Chaun J. Domingue
Public Information Officer
Office: 504-934-6785
cdomingue@ppso.net