90°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

THE INVESTIGATIVE UNIT: Woman details concerning encounters with ex-BRPD officer awaiting sentencing

17 hours 23 minutes 23 seconds ago Wednesday, September 03 2025 Sep 3, 2025 September 03, 2025 7:25 PM September 03, 2025 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A woman claims she was sexually assaulted by Donald Steele earlier this year. 

WBRZ has agreed to conceal the woman's identity at her request and will refer to her as Savannah. 

Savannah reached out to the WBRZ investigative unit to share her interaction with the man she knew as "Jason'.

"I was shocked, honestly. Just because he lied and told me a different name and a different identity," Savannah said.

She says after watching our story about Steele from this weekend, she discovered Jason's true identity.

Savannah shared a video of herself and the man she knew as Jason that the Investigative Unit confirmed is actually Steele. We have chosen not to show it to preserve her anonymity.

Steele is currently waiting to be sentenced on a malfeasance in office conviction stemming from a traffic stop in which a woman claims he forced her to drive to a different location and groped her.

Savannah made the connection when she saw his face, and remembered something he had told her.

"He did bring up he was a former police officer, but said someone lied on his name. That was it, he didn't get into it. He didn't say what actually happened."

She also picked up on several similarities between what the 19-year-old victim accused Steele of and her own interactions with him.

"I realized I wasn't alone, because when I read the story, it was a lot of similarities what he did to me."

In the protective order filed by the 19-year-old victim, Steele allegedly incessantly texted her after their encounter and offered to pay for her to get her nails done.

"He would repeatedly text me, if I don't respond, out of nowhere he would just send me money -- you need to spoil yourself," Savannah said, but adds it didn't stop there.

"He didn't take no for an answer."

The college student says she met up with Steele on two occasions, once with a friend, this year in New Orleans. They both ended the same way.

"I just remember waking up naked."

She says she didn't totally know what happened because she blacked out.

"He would purposely get me drunk all the time. Every time I seen him--'here you need to drink this. Why you not drinking it? You're wasting my money'."

But there were moments of clarity.

"It was a couple incidents when I'd be sleeping and he would feel up on me. I woke up to that, or him doing other sexual things that I did not consent to."

Savannah tells us though she wasn't comfortable with what happened, she continued to talk to Steele.

"He made it seem like he had so much power and that's why I was even scared to talk today."

She mentioned one time when he was particularly controlling. 

"I wore something and he told me I shouldn't wear that -- I'm 'his b*tch'. You're not supposed to look like that being 'his b*tch.' He has a certain look for you."

She says she didn't come to terms with what had happened to her until she found out who 'Justin' really was and what he had been accused of, and she says she believes there are other victims.

"I just don't want nobody else to go through what I went through. I went through it. My friend went through it, and he showed me when he would talk to other girls and they're probably in denial or whatever, but they've been through the same thing too."

Savannah has not filed a criminal complaint against Steele. She tells us she's too overwhelmed right now and is still sorting through what happened to her. However, she has spoken with a sex crimes detective. 

Steele's attorney Franz Borghardt sent us this statement:

"Strange that she went to the news and not the police, odd that these allegations are popping up two days after Mr. Steele's case has been reignited in the court of public opinion in advance of sentencing."

Steele is scheduled to be sentenced on the malfeasance charge on Sept. 8. 

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days