A former New Orleans Police Department child abuse investigator must stay imprisoned indefinitely after apparently breaking sex-offender registration laws and possessing a stash of child pornography while out on parole two years ago, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The ruling comes after increased media and law enforcement scrutiny of Stanley Burkhardt, 70, who years ago had been ordered locked up indefinitely as a “sexually dangerous” person but was given another chance to return to society following treatment.

Burkhardt made a name for himself at NOPD in the 1970s and 1980s by building cases against child abusers. But he left the force in disgrace and was imprisoned in 1987 after being convicted of mailing sexually explicit images of underage boys to undercover agents.

He later also acknowledged sexually abusing a 9-year-old relative in New Orleans and receiving child pornography. In hopes of keeping him imprisoned as long as possible, federal prosecutors turned to a law providing for lifelong commitments for people whom judges deem to be “sexually dangerous.”

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in North Carolina in 2011 ruled that Burkhardt met those conditions and imposed a lifetime commitment. However, after four years of treatment, U.S. District Judge James Dever III ordered the disgraced ex-cop released as long as he complied with certain conditions, one of which was keeping his sex-offender registration information current.

In 2019, Louisiana State Police alleged that Burkhardt had failed to notify them of an email address and username that he used to leave suggestive comments under pictures of young men on a photo-sharing website.

Also, when he applied for a job with a New Orleans casino, he allegedly removed a stamp from his driver’s license that identified him as a convicted sex offender. Ex-NOPD child abuse investigator admits molesting victim of infamous Boy Scout pedophile ring Ex-NOPD child abuse investigator admits molesting victim of infamous Boy Scout pedophile ring

State Police re-arrested Burkhardt and searched his home on July 24, 2019. They allegedly found a phone with 67 images of teen-aged minors engaged in sex acts, according to court records filed last week. There were also allegedly images on the phone which showed partially dressed preteen boys that the records said violated conditions of his supervised release.

He had made $10,000 bail by the following day. But then federal parole authorities took him back into custody for allegedly violating the terms of his conditional release, and he was ordered held without bond until a February 2020 hearing over whether he should ever be released.

After the hearing took place, Dever didn't rule for nearly two years because of delays from the coronavirus pandemic. Dever ultimately decided Friday that Burkhardt had indeed violated his conditional release’s terms and should stay in custody, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, North Carolina, said. Stanley Burkhardt murg 07/24/2019

Stanley Burkhardt mug shot (via OPCSO on July 24, 2019)

Burkhardt can reapply to be conditionally released again in six months.

Dever reviewed forensic psychiatrists' reports on Burkhardt before ruling. He issued his decision weeks after Burkhardt requested that the judge weigh in after the lengthy delays.

Burkhardt remained under the radar for years following his 2015 release. But in the fall of 2018, a man publicly accused Burkhardt of bragging about killing a teenage boy who frequented the French Quarter and was found dead in the Mississippi River in New Orleans nearly four decades ago. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

That man, Richard Windmann, testified in 2011 to being sexually abused as a teenager by Burkhardt. Windmann’s claims about Burkhardt’s boast led the NOPD’s cold case squad to give a fresh look at the 1982 drowning death of Edward Wells.

Meanwhile, State Police, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and investigators in Mississippi began re-examining the unsolved strangulation deaths of three other teenagers: Dennis Turcotte, Raymond Richardson and Daniel Dewey. The three, like Wells, also frequented the French Quarter, were all killed in a 21-month span in the late 1970s, and were dumped around the region. Cops taking fresh look at cases of 3 teens killed while living in the French Quarter in the '70s Cops taking fresh look at cases of 3 teens killed while living in the French Quarter in the '70s

At the February 2020 hearing, a State Police investigator said that Burkhardt was not being considered as a suspect in the death of Wells. Burkhardt testified that he did not kill Wells.

Nonetheless, Burkhardt was under law enforcement's microscope. The same state trooper from the February 2020 hearing obtained the arrest warrant charging Burkhardt with running afoul of sex-offender registration laws the previous year. That investigator was also involved in probing the slayings of Turcotte, Richardson and Dewey. Thanh Truong leaving WWL-TV; he and wife to launch podcast examining mysterious 1982 death Thanh Truong leaving WWL-TV; he and wife to launch podcast examining mysterious 1982 death

Wells’ death was the subject of a podcast named "New Orleans Unsolved" that debuted last year around the time of the February 2020 hearing.

Windmann met Burkhardt after testifying decades ago that he had been sexually abused by leaders of his Boy Scout troop in a case that led to numerous criminal convictions. Authorities working on that case have described introducing Windmann to Burkhardt.

Windmann in September 2019 filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Burkhardt and New Orleans’ city government. City attorneys claim the lawsuit should be tossed out, citing statutes of limitation prohibiting plaintiffs from recovering damages for long-ago conduct.

The lawsuit, prepared by attorney Richard Trahant, alleges that those statutes shouldn’t apply in this case because Windmann tried to report Burkhardt to other police officers but was turned away.

At the February 2020 hearing, Burkhardt seemingly admitted to molesting Windmann, reversing years of denials. But in a follow-up hearing in September 2020, Burkhardt's attorney sought to establish through expert witness testimony that Burkhardt had once described having sex with Windmann when Windmann turned 17 and reached the age of consent — but that Burkhardt had not abused Windmann when Windmann was a child.

Windmann's suit against the city of New Orleans remains unresolved.

"I've spent a lifetime trying to get Burkhardt away from our children, and it was worth every single year," Windmann said Friday. "No longer will the children of Louisiana be subject to this monster." Man sues city of New Orleans for damages over alleged abuse at hands of predator cop Man sues city of New Orleans for damages over alleged abuse at hands of predator cop Shopping