DA Warren Montgomery reports that 44 YO James Michael Buckley of Hammond pled guilty just prior to jury selection for crimes he committed in Covington in July of 2020.
Buckley was sentenced by District Judge Ellen Creel to 50 years in prison for second degree rape, sexual battery, home invasion, and more. The sentence will be served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
The victims were present in court and were in full support of the plea terms.
On July 20, 2020, at approximately 12:30 PM, Covington Police Department received a complaint of a suspicious subject at a home in Covington. Victim 1 stated she’d heard a noise outside of her house and observed a man attempting to enter her front door. When confronted he left. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the Covington Police department was dispatched to a reported home invasion and rape at a residence just a few blocks away. Victim 2 stated that she was in the kitchen making lunch, when an unknown male entered the residence through an unlocked front door.
Officers recovered surveillance footage from a restaurant down the street from this residence, showing the defendant fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
After investigation Buckley was found and arrested later in the day.
DNA analysis was performed by the Coroner’s office. DNA from the cigarettes from both crime scenes linked Buckley to the crimes.
During Buckley’s guilty plea, one of the victims elected to give a victim impact statement in the courtroom. At times, she spoke directly to the defendant, confronting him on the harm he had caused her and her family. She emphasized her own strength in surviving the violent incident and that she took comfort knowing that he would spend the next fifty years in prison.
