Former Spearsville police chief convicted of rape

Former Spearsville chief of police Steve E. Bodine will be sentenced to life in prison when sentenced Aug. 10 after being convicted this week of aggravated rape by a Union Parish jury.

Bodine, 66, will be sentenced by Third Judicial District Court Judge Jay McCallum at 11 a.m. Aug. 10 at the Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville.

The former police chief was arrested in September 2013 and has remained incarcerated in the Union Parish Detention Center. His bond had been set at $500,000.

District Attorney John Belton said the three-day trial ended Wednesday with the 12-member jury voting unanimously for conviction. The conviction carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Belton said the investigating team of the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, State Police and the district attorney’s office resulted in a solid case against Bodine.

Bodine was accused in the rape of a 4-year-old child and witnesses testified that through the years he had raped children ranging from 4 to 14 years old.

Three of the five victims drove hours to get the opportunity to testify against the defendant, Belton said. One of the victims was just a child when she was molested at a day care center in Arkansas operated by Bodine and his wife.

Testimony revealed that the defendant had been having sexual relations with children for 40 years.

Belton said the successful prosecution resulted because of excellent work by investigators, prosecutors Shawn Alford and Kenya Moses Fields and the testimony of the victim and previous victims.