NEW IBERIA, La. — The man accused of kidnapping a 10-year-old girl Sunday night has a history of failing to follow state sex offender rules, records show.
Michael Roy Sereal, 33, of New Iberia is being held without bond in the Iberia Parish Jail, booked with aggravated kidnapping of a child and failure to register as a sex offender.
The child was found safe Monday morning; Sereal was arrested. The child was evaluated by medical personnel on Monday.
Two men working their trash route Monday morning spotted the car in which police say the girl was kidnapped last night.
According to court records in Iberia Parish, Sereal was charged with forcible rape of a 14 year old in May 2006. However, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in October 2006.
A 16th Judicial District Court judge then sentenced Sereal to 10 years hard labor, but suspended that sentence and placed him on supervised probation for 5 years under a plea agreement with the state.
As part of that agreement, Sereal was required to register as a sex offender with the state.
However, court records show that Sereal violated the terms of his probation and the court revoked it in February 2007. Sereal was then ordered to serve the original 10 year sentence with all but 6 months of it suspended. He was also ordered to have a 5 year probation when he was released from jail.
The following year, in August 2008, court records show that Sereal admitted to violating that probation, and the court amended his sentence to 6 years hard labor, which he would serve at Avoyelles Parish Prison in Marksville.
On April 1, 2009, Sereal requested an appeal of his sentence while he was in prison, which was denied one week later.
On Jan. 21, 2016, Sereal was charged with failure to pay the annual registration fee and failure to notify and register as a sex offender or child predator. He pleaded guilty to that charge on Nov. 15, 2016 as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to serve 6 months in jail.
On Oct. 18, 2019, Sereal was again charged with failure to notify and register as a sex offender or child predator.
During his arraignment hearing on June 3, 2020, Sereal pled not guilty to the charge.
On Sept. 8, 2020, the Sexual Predator Apprehension Team of the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office requested the criminal records of Sereal’s charge of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in October 2006.
On Dec. 17, 2020, court records show that Sereal failed to appear and an arrest warrant was issued on Dec. 22, 2020. However, that warrant was recalled during a hearing on Jan. 27 of this year.
During that hearing, Sereal had his address changed with the court and pre-trial hearing was set for March 18 for his previous charge of failure to register as a sex offender. A trial date was set for April 5.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
