An Abbeville Police dispatcher is on administrative leave after her indictment.
Shawna Miguez, 52, was indicted in July on one count of felony sexual battery and one count of simple battery. She's accused of touching the genitals of a co-worker in November 2023, and of committing a battery on the same co-worker, court records show.
The case was investigated by the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office. Through a public records request, KATC Investigates learned that the sheriff was called in by APD back in February 2024 to investigate an incident between two employees.
The sheriff's Investigations Division conducted an investigation into the incident that allegedly happened on November 1 at the police station on Charity Street in Abbeville.
The results of that investigation were delivered to the District Attorney's Office in March 2024, and the grand jury returned the indictment against her in July.
Records show she turned herself in and was booked into the parish jail on a grand jury warrant on August 7; she bonded out that same day. She was placed on administrative leave with pay on August 14.
We reached out to Police Chief Mike Hardy, but he said he is unable to comment on a pending investigation.
We also called her attorney, William Goode of Lafayette.
"She is innocent," Goode said. "The fellow who made the complaint against her did so in retaliation for her filing a complaint with the chief about him."
Goode said Miguez has five children, the youngest a teen, and five grandchildren.
"She's not the kind of person who would go around doing a sexual battery on anybody," Goode said. "This is just retaliation; it's not true. And it will be resolved in her favor."
