Colfax man gets 25 year in prison after pleading to sex crime charges in Grant, Rapides

Melissa Gregory, Alexandria Town Talk
·2 min read
Grant Parish Sheriff Steven McCain (center) and Rapides Parish Sheriff Mark Wood (right) discussed the arrest of Travis Lee Knighton at a news conference on May 13, 2021. Facing multiple sex crime charges, Knighton pleaded guilty in both parishes. He has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in both jurisdictions.
Grant Parish Sheriff Steven McCain (center) and Rapides Parish Sheriff Mark Wood (right) discussed the arrest of Travis Lee Knighton at a news conference on May 13, 2021. Facing multiple sex crime charges, Knighton pleaded guilty in both parishes. He has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in both jurisdictions.

A Colfax man who faced an August trial on a host of sex crime charges pleaded guilty Thursday, getting 25 years in prison.

Travis Lee Knighton, 51, was arrested in May 2021 both in Rapides and Grant parishes on felony sex crime charges. At the time of his arrest, Grant Sheriff Steven McCain said investigators believed Knighton was responsible for rapes and sexual abuse going back decades.

Both McCain and Rapides Sheriff Mark Wood mentioned child victims during a May 13, 2021, press conference they hoped would prompt more victims to come forward.

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Knighton already had been sentenced to 25 years in prison in Grant Parish, according to Grant Parish District Attorney Jay Lemoine.

As in the Rapides case, Knighton rejected an initial plea bargain on July 6 and then changed his mind later that day. He pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree rape and was sentenced to 25 years.

In Rapides, Knighton was indicted in December 2022 on four counts each of first-degree rape, attempted first-degree rape, sexual battery and aggravated crimes against nature. He pleaded not guilty and, on Thursday, his trial was set for Aug. 12.

But Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva and defense attorney Chad Guillot returned to 9th Judicial District Court Judge Patricia Koch's courtroom later in the day with a plea bargain.

He pleaded guilty to four reduced counts of second-degree rape, four counts of sexual battery and four counts of aggravated crimes against nature. Koch sentenced him to 25 years on each count to be served concurrently.

He'll also serve that sentence at the same time as his Grant Parish sentence, according to online Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records.

All remaining charges against him in both parishes were dropped. In both cases, he was ordered to report as a sex offender for life should he ever be released from prison.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Travis Knighton sentenced to 25 years for sex crimes in Grant, Rapides