Former St. John the Baptist Parish judge Elzey “Jeff” Perilloux got a fleeting taste of freedom this week, released on bond from a 14-year prison sentence pending his appeal -- before a panel of judges took it away.
Perilloux, 56, was out of prison for less than a day and getting fitted for an ankle monitor Thursday as he appeals his 2020 conviction on four sex counts, when an appellate court ordered him back behind bars.
The panel stayed a judge’s decision this week that had granted Perilloux's release on a $300,000 appeal bond. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office, which prosecuted Perilloux over allegations that he fondled his daughters' teenage friends, sought the stay as it challenges the bond.
Former Orleans Parish criminal court Judge Franz Zibilich granted the bond for Perilloux after a hearing on Tuesday, with conditions that include an ankle monitor, sex-offender classes, and a requirement that he have an escort anywhere he might go.
Perilloux left David Wade Correctional Center on Wednesday to live with a longtime friend in LaPlace. But on Thursday, Perilloux's lawyer, Jim Boren, said he was now due to return to state custody by 4:30 p.m.
Boren said the state appeals court granted the stay without giving Perilloux a chance to oppose it. He said they are asking the Louisiana Supreme Court to lift the stay and allow the disgraced judge to remain free.
“Right now he has to go to jail until they have the time to decide whether his bond should be upheld,” Boren said.
The ruling came from a panel made up of Judges Marc Johnson, Stephen Windhorst and Fredericka Homberg Wicker of the state 5th Circuit Court of Appeal in Gretna.
Under state law, judges can choose to set bail pending appeal for people who were convicted and sentenced to more than five years in prison if there’s no “competent evidence” that the person is a danger to the community or a flight risk.
Zibilich granted the appeal bond for Perilloux over the objection of Landry's office.
Perilloux’s accusers testified that he touched them inappropriately in various situations, including applying sunscreen or vapor rub over their chests and bodies. One said the judge held his hand over her breast during a back massage.
All of the incidents for which he was convicted took place at Perilloux's home in 2017, his first year on the bench. An alleged incident the same year in Florida involving one of the same accusers sparked a Louisiana State Police investigation into further incidents at the judge's home.
A different ad hoc judge, retired Orleans Parish criminal court Judge Dennis Waldron, sentenced Perilloux to 14 years after his conviction in 2020 on three felony counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. Waldron also found Perilloux guilty of misdemeanor sexual battery from an incident involving a girl who was 17.
Perilloux has claimed a variety of prejudicial errors at his trial and misconduct involving a juror who is now dead. He also alleges bias from Waldron, claiming the retired judge approved a raft of “irrelevant and prejudicial” evidence of his allegedly bad character.
