Louisiana Inmate Pleads Guilty to "Crime Against Nature" Charge
for Gay Sex
The Advocate,
March 14, 2001
One of three Bossier Parish, La., inmates accused of engaging in sex acts
near an elementary school while on a work detail pleaded guilty Monday to a
"crime against nature," a prosecutor said. William A. Wright, 32,
entered the felony plea in a case that led Sheriff Larry Deen to no longer
allow inmate crews to work at or near school campuses except during summers
when students aren’t present. Some Princeton Elementary School students and
teachers saw Wright and two fellow inmates engaged in sexual activity together
behind a brush pile in October when the men were supposed to be helping clear
bushes and undergrowth at a church near the school, police said. Wright
entered his plea after prosecutors agreed to dismiss a second, less serious
charge of obscenity. Wright also has promised to testify against codefendants
Willie James Harris, 42, and Andre Blaze, 29, both of whom rejected the same
plea bargain taken by Wright, assistant Bossier-Webster district attorney Carl
Ekendahl said. Harris and Blaze remain charged with both a crime against
nature and obscenity. The two are scheduled for trial May14. Wright faces up
to five years in prison for the crime-against-nature charge but could receive
some consideration at sentencing for his cooperation and guilty plea. No
sentencing date was immediately set.
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