GOP Louisiana Pastor Convicted Of Child Cruelty

September 24, 2024 Christianists, Crime

Law & Crime reports:

A Louisiana jury convicted a former “Survivor” contestant and pastor – who started a Christian school – of child cruelty on Monday. Jurors took just an hour to convict John Raymond, 62, in a St. Tammany Parish court after a six-day trial. The Slidell Police Department arrested Raymond in April 2022 on three counts of cruelty to juveniles when a trio of students at Lakeside Christian Academy accused Raymond of wrapping their heads in tape to keep their mouths closed.

One incident involved a 4-year-old pre-K student who was known for sitting on the ground while kicking and screaming during “tantrums,” cops said. During one of the outbursts, Raymond put his hand over the boy’s mouth and nose preventing him from breathing, police said. Raymond suffocated the boy to the point of him going “limp.” Raymond only stopped after a staff member intervened, according to cops.

The Shreveport Times reported in September 2023:

Louisiana’s Republican Party has endorsed John Raymond, who is charged with four counts of criminal cruelty to juveniles, in his bid to win a state House seat in St. Tammany Parish. Raymond, lead minister of New Horizon Church in Slidell and founder of Lakeside Christian Academy, was arrested twice in 2022 on juvenile cruelty charges related to discipline he is accused of carrying out in his role as headmaster at the school.

Raymond lost last year’s nonpartisan primary by 30 points. In 2002, he was the first contestant voted off the island on “Survivor: Thailand.” He will be sentenced next month. Yesterday he blamed his conviction on “cancel culture.”



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