A six-man, six-woman Caddo Parish jury deliberated 90 minutes Thursday, December 8, 2016, before returning a guilty verdict against a Shreveport man accused of aggravated rape.
Joseph Michael Kurz, 64, was found guilty of raping a male relative under age 12 in the period between 1976 and 1977. The victim reported the crime to authorities in 2014 after seeing news coverage of Kurz’s arrest on a charge of indecent behavior with a juvenile, the second victim not related to the first.
An investigation by the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office uncovered four additional victims who claimed they were molested by Kurz in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A subsequent search of Kurz’s residence uncovered child pornography on his computer.
The Caddo Parish District Attorney prosecuted the defendant on a charge of aggravated rape because it carries a life sentence without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
Caddo District Judge Katherine Dorroh, who presided over the four-day trial, will formally impose the sentence on December 15, 2016.
Caddo Parish assistant district attorneys Jason Waltman and Joshua Williams prosecuted the case while John Bokenfohr served as the defense attorney.