The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal serves 21 parishes in Southwest and central Louisiana.

The 50-year sentence will stand for an Anacoco man who pleaded guilty in 2023 to multiple counts of oral sexual battery and molestation.

David Self was initially charged with six counts of oral sexual battery, three counts molestation of a juvenile, one count indecent behavior with a juvenile, one count crimes against nature and one count of computer-aided solicitation of a minor. On Dec. 11, 2023, he entered guilty pleas to two counts oral sexual battery, two counts of molestation and one count of computer-aided solicitation. In exchange for his plea, the remaining charges against him were dropped.

The plea agreement stipulated a sentencing cap of 50 years.

The victim testified she was abused by Self for about four years, starting when she was 11. Initially, the abuse consisted of oral sex. She said Self later began making her have sex with him when he found out she had been sexually active with her boyfriend.

Texts between the girl and Self entered into evidence reveal Self repeatedly asked her to consider having sex with him during her menstrual cycle. “I bet you would love it,” he wrote.

In the texts, Self also asks the girl to compare his genitals to her boyfriend’s.

On Aug. 9, 2024, Self filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, citing he “did not really understand what had happened at the time of the plea.” That motion was denied.

He was sentenced on Sept. 24, 2024, to 10 years for each battery count, 10 years for each molestation count and 10 years for the solicitation count.

“You groomed this little girl to be your personal plaything,” the trial judge told Self during sentencing, calling what he did “vile and horrendous.”

“With you on the streets, the court believes no children would be safe,” the judge said. “You are a sexual deviant. It is the desire of the court that you never draw another breath of fresh air.”

Self appealed his sentence to the Louisiana 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming it was “unconstitutionally excessive” and that the combined sentences totaling 50 years “constitute a life sentence, which is not warranted by the facts of this case.” Self was 46 when the sentence was rendered.

Although he acknowledges that his “offenses are serious,” Self asserts in his appeal that his sentences are “excessive and serve no purpose.”

The appeals court rejected Self’s claims.