Louisiana man, John Barnes, accused of raping 16-year-old, Crysta Abelseth, in 2005,claims sex was consensual, says she used a fake ID and believes their daughter should remain in his custody

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that John Barnes, the Louisiana man who was accused of raping 16-year-old Crysta Abelseth in 2005 when he was 30 decided to speak out. He denies the claims and is fighting to maintain custody of their now teenage daughter. 

Louisiana has statutory rape laws which apply if the victim is under 17, regardless of whether or not they physically consented. Barnes has never been charged with rape or statutory rape, and he was recently awarded full custody of the couple's daughter. 

According to DailyMail, in a recent interview, Barnes claim he thought Abelseth was an adult when they met because she was in a bar using a fake ID, “It's a lie. She was in a bar with a fake ID, telling everyone she was a college student, I had no idea she was 16, and I didn’t rape her. That is absolutely, unequivocally false,” he said.

Barnes is also claiming that he discovered he was the child's father in 2011 when she was five, and that a different man's name was on her birth certificate.