Barnes told Fox Digital, "All I have been trying to do is protect my daughter," Barnes told Fox News Digital.
RELATED: Woman Who Was Allegedly Raped as Teen Loses Custody of Child to Accused Rapist, Has to Pay Child Support.
Abelseth's 2015 complaint wasn't assigned to a detective until this year, the court records show. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office in a statement acknowledged they did not properly investigate that allegation and said the case was turned over to prosecutors on Wednesday.
"In tracing this case back to the time the initial complaint was filed on July 1, 2015, it was discovered that the report never made it through the proper channels within the department to be assigned for investigation," reads the statement. "Therefore, our department absolutely dropped the ball, and we simply must own our mistake. This is a mistake, however, that simply has never been a problem before or since, and we must make sure to keep it that way."
Abelseth alleges in the filings that she didn't report the alleged rape for years because she thought victims had only 24 hours to go to the police after such crimes occurred. She ended up reporting the alleged rape after learning the statute of limitations for rape was 30 years after the victim turns 18.
The custody battle began in 2011, after the girl turned 5, and Barnes learned he might have a child; Abelseth tells PEOPLE she has no idea how he discovered the daughter's existence, but Barnes told Fox News Digital she was the one who informed him that he might be a dad.
Barnes took Abelseth to court, and once paternity was established, Barnes sought and was awarded shared custody of the child, despite their ages at the time Abelseth became pregnant. Barnes sued for sole custody of the girl in May 2015, after accusing Abelseth of having men stay overnight at the home while their daughter was present.
"Men were coming in and out of my child's life," he told Fox News Digital. "She had three husbands in six years and it wasn't healthy."
Judge Cashe took over the case in August 2015. Six months later, a split-custody agreement was reached, and Abelseth was ordered to pay $78.41 to Barnes each month. That sum increased to $117.72 per month in 2017.
Abelseth requested that Barnes' custody be limited, but Cashe denied that motion. Months later, the judge held Abelseth in contempt for allegedly giving the daughter a cell phone; in a previous decision, Cashe barred the girl from owning a phone.
Barnes told Fox News Digital he'd moved for expanded custody in December 2020, alleging Abelseth had been irresponsible as a parent. He told the site he did not want his daughter having another phone after learning there were inappropriate pictures and videos on her previous phone.