A Keithville man was found guilty on May 13 in Caddo District Court of aggravated rape and indecent behavior with juveniles.
The two-man, 10-woman jury in District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr.’s court deliberated less than two hours before returning its unanimous verdict against Calvin Lewis, 62, for his acts against the victims, both under the age of 13 when assaulted. The trial began Monday, May 11, 2026.
Over the course of the trial, prosecutors called five witnesses to prove that the defendant inappropriately touched an 11-year old relative in 2022 and repeatedly raped another relative from 1990 to 1993, beginning when the victim was 9. In 2024, Detective Ray Saunders of the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office commenced an investigation of Lewis in the indecent behavior case. In the course of that investigation, Det. Saunders discovered that Lewis had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with another juvenile relative in the early 1990s. The victim in the earlier case had reported being raped to multiple family members, but authorities never were contacted. Lewis ultimately was arrested in May 2024 and indicted that August. Following Lewis’s arrest, an investigator with the Caddo DA’s Special Victims Unit discovered several jail phone calls Lewis made to his wife following his arrest. In the calls he can be heard asking his wife to pay the victim in the rape case $2,000 and give her a Chevy Malibu to get her to sign an affidavit saying she did not want him to be prosecuted.
There was no indication that Lewis’s wife ever attempted to act on that request; however, jurors were allowed to hear calls in which Lewis attempted to orchestrate a conspiracy to bribe the victim. Additionally, the jury heard him suggest to his wife that the rape victim needed to “forgive and let it go.”
When Lewis returns to Judge Hathaway’s court June 9, he faces a mandatory life term without possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for the aggravated rape conviction. He also faces up to 25 years in prison for the indecent behavior conviction.
Assistant District Attorneys Jason Waltman and Christopher S. Bowman prosecuted the case. Harry Johnson and Hillary Hileman defended Lewis.
The case was docket No. 401776.