Caddo Parish Man Found Guilty for Lewd Acts With 10-Year-Old

A Caddo Parish man was found guilty of committing a lewd act against a 10-year-old girl as she slept.

The six-woman, six-man jury in District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr.'s court found Joshua Masters, 39, guilty as charged Tuesday, February 7, 2023 of indecent behavior with a juvenile under age 13.

On September 28, 2021, Masters was found by his live-in girlfriend in the bedroom of her 10-year-old daughter, masturbating to the child's exposed rear-end. The child had taken melatonin to go to sleep that night and Masters had waited until the girl and her mother had fallen asleep before performing the lewd and lascivious act.

The child, her mother, and the investigating officer testified. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before returning its verdict.

Masters is a registered sex offender and his prior conviction for rape by instrumentation on an unconscious victim from Bryan County, Oklahoma, was presented to the jury.

When Masters returns to Judge Hathaway's court for sentencing March 27, 2023, he faces from two to 25 years in prison at hard labor, with at least the first two years to be served without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Masters was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Courtney N. Ray and Jason W. Waltman. He was defended by Elizabeth Gibson and Carter Lawrence.