Judge in LSU student Madison Brooks’ rape case has an adult son who is a serial sex offender and arbitrarily overturned another man’s decades-old conviction when he asked for a shorter sentence

The judge who presided over the gruesome rape case of LSU student Madison Brooks has an adult son with numerous sex crimes convictions and, out of the blue, overturned another man’s conviction when he asked for a shorter prison sentence.

District Judge Gail Horne Ray’s decisions have raised questions about a possible conflict of interest in the Brooks case.

Brooks, 19, died on January 15, 2023, when she was hit by a car in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after she was allegedly raped by four men, Kaivon Washington, Casen Carver, Everett Lee and Desmond Carter.

Ray presides over the trials, but her impartiality has been questioned after she overturned the 1972 rape conviction of Donald Ray Link this month and released rape suspect De’Aundre Cox on reduced bail last year.

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III has clashed with Ray over the decisions, telling WBRZ, “I’ve never seen anything like this done, nor heard of it.”

Ray’s son, Nelson Dan Taylor Jr., was found guilty of raping several classmates between the ages of 12 and 17 between 1995 and 1996. He broke into their homes wearing a mask and attacked them with a knife.

He pleaded guilty to all rape charges and was sentenced to 50 years in prison, of which he had to serve a minimum of 25 years.

Ray took office as judge of the 19th District Court on January 12, 2023.

Three months later, she released De’Aundre Cox, who was accused of raping his underage neighbor, on reduced bail without informing the victim or notifying prosecutors.

Cox is accused of two counts of aggravated rape of a now-teenage girl who lives near his family’s home in the Park Forest neighborhood. She was 12 when the alleged sexual abuse began.

She told officers that Cox threatened her with a gun before raping her twice. The abuse was discovered when the victim’s older brother, who was friends with Cox, found a video of the attacks on his phone.

District Attorney Hillar Moore sharply criticized Ray’s decision to release him last April, saying his office was not informed until a week after his release.

He told The Advocate at the time: “We are really confused as to how this bail could have been reduced without notification to the state and without an opportunity for us to be heard on behalf of the victim. And we are concerned about what happened and how it happened.”

The victim’s mother told the news agency that the family was “living in fear” and said: “Why didn’t they tell me? We could have changed because these people were already threatening me.”

This month, Ray again clashed with prosecutors over their decision to overturn convicted rapist Donald Ray Link’s 1972 aggravated rape conviction.

Link was serving a life sentence for threatening a woman with a butcher knife and then raping her.

He appeared before Ray and asked her to reduce his sentence so he could ask for parole.

Instead of reducing his sentence, she overturned his conviction entirely, thereby bypassing the parole process.

Moore told WBRZ her decision was “unprecedented,” adding, “She has no authority whatsoever for her decision and her reasoning was flawed.”

Ray’s decisions and her family history have raised further questions about Ray’s impartiality in the ongoing Brooks case.

Her decisions were sharply criticized online. One Twitter user said: “She needs to be fired.” Another said: “This judge should be fired! Simply disgusting.”

Moore and Ray did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

LSU student Brooks was allegedly raped by Carter and Washington in the back seat of their car while the other two suspects watched after a night of drinking at a bar in Tigerland.

After the alleged attack in her car, the suspects allegedly left Brooks staggering and drunk on the side of a busy four-lane highway.

She was hit by a car at around 3 a.m. and succumbed to her injuries.

Brooks’ alleged attackers insist they did not rape her and say there was only consensual sex in the back seat of the car.

Brooks was last seen stumbling drunk with the group out of Reggie’s Bar, which has since had its license revoked.

Further footage released by authorities shows the student running after the group of men on the night of her death.

Fellow college football player Washington has been charged with third-degree rape in the Brooks case, but prosecutors say they hope to upgrade the charges.

He is accused of raping another young woman, who she claims he attacked in October of last year after assaulting her at Reggie’s, the same bar where the group met Brooks.

The victim in the October case said she was too drunk to go home so she asked if she could stay at a friend’s apartment in Washington.

According to his affidavit, they all went back home together, where she and the friend began having sex in front of Washington.

The boyfriend allegedly became even more “aggressive,” pushing her down and ignoring her when she begged him to “stop.”

Washington watched but then came closer and touched the victim’s breasts and vagina, the affidavit states.

The alleged incident is the third rape charge against Washington.

Along with Brooks, he is accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2020 after following her home from a pool party when she was 15.

The Walker High School football player was charged with first-degree rape in the case; prosecutors announced that they would upgrade the charges against Brooks.

Washington’s lawyers had previously presented video footage to the court to prove that the drunk fraternity girl was capable of consenting to the acts, but the judge considered that this was of a “criminal” nature.

A legal expert told DailyMail.com that the judge’s “inappropriate” comments could “taint public opinion” of the defendants.

In the footage, Washington can reportedly be heard laughing at Brooks as she slurs the alleged anal rape.

Louisiana’s first-degree rape law requires a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Brooks died when she was struck by a rideshare car at 3 a.m. on January 15 as she was being dropped off by the four men.

Two Good Samaritans reportedly stopped after the collision to perform CPR on the LSU sophomore.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office said they were directed by emergency responders on the phone in the pouring rain after Madi was struck by the ride-share car.

They confirmed that Madi Brooks died of “multiple traumatic injuries” when she was hit by a car following an alleged rape.

Police confirmed that no charges would be brought against the driver of the vehicle as he was not impaired and immediately contacted emergency services.

On the highway where she died, her friends erected a memorial to the “amazing young woman” who had “limitless potential.”

According to several social media posts, the responsibility of the bar where Madi worked for the incident was also questioned.

Surveillance footage from Reggie’s bar, where the group met, shows Madi drunk and staggering around, according to police documents.

Louisiana Air Traffic Control has confirmed that it has revoked Reggie’s license due to the “severity of the allegations and the potential threat to public safety.”

A lawyer for the Bar Association, Kris Perrett, confirmed in a statement that they were “fully cooperating with the authorities”.

A lawyer for the Brooks family issued a statement last year saying: “She was raped. Rape is rape. It’s just a horrific, horrific situation.”

“And as far as the people associated with the alleged rapist wanting to blame the victim and showing up at press conferences and saying things… we stand up for Madi. That’s not right.”