LIVINGSTON - A panel of judges with the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a trial court judge abused their discretion when they decided members of the public could not be in the courtroom when a victim testifies in the upcoming trial against Melanie Curtin.

The panel said the court did not have a "substantial reason" for excluding the public from the courtroom during the adult victim's testimony.

Curtin was arrested amid the high-profile investigation into former Livingston Parish deputy Dennis Perkins. Perkins and his wife Cynthia were arrested in October 2019 and ultimately faced 150 counts alleging they raped two children and an adult, produced child pornography and served schoolchildren baked goods contaminated with a bodily fluid. 

Curtin was convicted in 2021, but the First Circuit Court of Appeal said the trial judge erred when he admitted some evidence and rejected other items.

The state Supreme Court refused to review the case this year, clearing the way for a new trial before 22nd Judicial District Judge Brian K. Abels. Abels is now rehearing the case.