Man finds closure following 22 years of waiting for justice to be served

By Troy Washington

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    MANSFIELD, Louisiana (KTBS) — A DeSoto Parish man finds closure after 22 years of waiting for justice to be served. DeQuan Howard says he was molested in his third grade classroom back in 1997.

Howard says at the time he told his mother his substitute teacher was to blame. After the incident, the substitute was reassigned to another school in DeSoto Parish. Though years passed, Howard never lost hope for justice.

DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s started investigated and Michael Gilbert was arrested and charged for the crime. Gilbert confessed and in December he was sentenced to 13 years.

“The time the effort I never gave up I feel like by me coming forward me speaking out doing whatever I had to do to get closure it can help someone in the future,” said Howard.

DeSoto Parish District Attorney Charles Adams tells KTBS he regrets the system did not address Howard’s situation right away. Adams says he’s humbled and satisfied that the system finally worked. Adams says he hopes this helps Howard move forward and he’s glad they were able to make something right after all these years.

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