Baton Rouge man arrested, accused of raping 12-year-old girl | Crime/Police

A Baton Rouge man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl last year has been arrested.

Christopher Francis, 51, was arrested Friday in the 1200 block of Pickett Avenue by members of the Baton Rouge Police Department’s Special Victims Unit after Crime Stoppers received an anonymous tip.

He is accused of raping the girl on July 26, 2023. The police became aware of the incident in August 2023 and began an investigation. An arrest warrant was obtained for Francis in April.

Francis is a registered sex offender for a crime in 2007, when he was sent to prison for the aggravated rape of a five-year-old in Livingston Parish. According to court records, the charge was later changed to indecent behavior toward a juvenile.

He was arrested in 2022 for failing to register as a sex offender and also pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 2008.

Francis was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail on Friday on charges of first-degree rape and lewd conduct toward a juvenile.