WEST FELICIANA — The West Feliciana District Attorney's office has stepped into a custody case that became a criminal matter involving allegations of sexual abuse against a father.

District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla filed a motion to reinstate bond conditions for Jacob Mansell and remove children from his home, after a judge dissolved them last month. 

Mansell was arrested in March for sexual battery and second-degree rape based on allegations from his 13-year-old daughter and a doctor's evaluation.

Mansell's ex-wife, Bridgette Williams, described what the doctor told her after evaluating the girl earlier this year.

"The doctor came out she talked to me and she said [victim] has disclosed that this has been happening since she was 10 and that it's her dad," Williams said.

Mansell posted the $195,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim under conditions set by Judge Sydney Picou Walker. In April, Walker rescinded that order.

"This is the first time we've ever heard of that," D'Aquilla said. "She removed that no-contact order, and that was very concerning to our office."

That same day, Judge Kathryn Jones gave Mansell majority custody of all three children.

"The judge dropped the bond conditions, dismissed the restraining order, and put my kids back into his house," Williams said.

According to Mansell's attorney, Cy D'Aquila, the decision was based on the opinion of Dr. Allen Taylor, who advised the court that this was the worst case of parental alienation he had ever seen. Parental alienation is when a child is manipulated by one parent into feeling a certain way about the other.

"I'm being accused of parental alienation," Williams said. "I don't know of a mom who would allow her child to go back into the hands of an abuser that's caused this much harm."

Cy D'Aquila also told WBRZ that his client has been falsely accused and vilified based on allegations he claims the victim has now recanted. The D.A.'s office still intends to go to trial. 

Both Mansell and Williams have taken and passed separate lie-detector tests, which are generally not admissible in court.