By JIM BUTLER

It took a while but Roy James Williams is now, barring a reversal, a permanent guest of the state.

Williams, 43 when arrested, was convicted Thursday of 1st degree rape.

According to records he has been in parish custody since his arrest four years ago today.

At the time he was suspected of 100 counts of the crime as well as 100 counts of rape of victims under age 13.

Sentencing for Williams is scheduled April 29. It is a formality.

Louisiana law says the sentence shall be life, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

The law initially allowed a capital punishment option for prosecutors and juries to consider but the U.S. Supreme Court a decade or so ago ruled that unconstitutional.

The specific age or ages of victims in this case was not part of the public record at the time of arrests. Lack of knowledge of the victim/victims age is not a defense under Louisiana law.

The case, for obvious reasons, posed ticklish issues for the DA’s Office — striving to protect victim anonymity, working with victim representatives, the exchange of back and forth with defense counsel, and a year essentially lost to pandemic limitations.