Anti-Gay Pastor Found Guilty of Child Abuse and Cruelty
John Raymond, founder of Lakeside Christian Academy in Louisiana, was found guilty of taping students' mouths shut to discipline them.
John Raymond, a right-wing pastor, has been found guilty of three felony counts of child abuse and one count of second-degree child cruelty for the way he chose to discipline students at his Christian school.
Raymond, the founder of Lakeside Christian Academy in Slidell, Louisiana, was accused of wrapping packing tape around the mouths and heads of three 13-year-old boys as punishment for talking in class. He also faced a second-degree child cruelty charge for allegedly placing his hand over the mouth of a 4-year-old student until the child’s body went limp.
A popular pastor with strong ties to local political figures, including the district attorney and the Slidell mayor, Raymond wielded significant influence in the local community.
His influence was so great that one former teacher who testified against him said she was afraid that no one in St. Tammany Parish would believe her, and might even turn on her, reports The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
The trial was expected to conclude last week, but the prosecution called more than 20 witnesses to the stand. Further complicating the matter was that five years had elapsed between when the punishments were inflicted and when witnesses went to the police. Raymond’s defense lawyers raised questions at trial about whether the accounts could be believed.
Police arrested Raymond in March 2022 after receiving a complaint from the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services about “potential child abuse” at Lakeside Christian Academy.
Upon investigating, they learned of the packing tape incidents. The three children reported that they had difficulty breathing when their mouths were taped and claimed that the process of removing the tape from their mouths was “painful,” reports LGBTQ Nation.
In a statement following the arrest, Raymond, who was a contestant on the CBS reality show Survivor in 2002, said he had offered the students the option of using transparent tape instead or calling their parents and suspending them.
“No student was ever treated with cruelty or harmed in any way,” he insisted.
Two months later, Raymond was arrested a second time for the incident involving the four-year-old. He reportedly held the boy upside down by his ankles, “whipping his buttocks,” and, in a separate incident, covered the child’s mouth and nose with his hand to stop a “tantrum.”
Witnesses claimed at trial that the punishment was so severe that the child, who was unable to breathe, went limp and was reportedly “unable to stand” immediately afterward.
Raymond’s defense team refuted allegations that he had smothered the 4-year-old, but Raymond acknowledged that he had taped at least five students’ mouths shut. Those actions, he claimed, were in line with Biblical teaching and the principles of Christian education, in which often strict disciplinary methods are emphasized to teach obedience and responsibility for one’s actions.
Defense attorney Joseph Long sought to frame the case as an example of a “culture war” between religious conservatives and leftists in his opening statements, according to The Independent.
“Make no mistake, folks, this country is in the middle of a culture war,” Long told jurors. “In Europe, parents can’t even physically discipline their children anymore. It’s coming. This is government overreach.”
The families of two of the five students to whom Raymond admitted disciplining opposed prosecuting him for his disciplinary actions.
Following six days of court proceedings, the jury deliberated for less than an hour, finding Raymond guilty of all four charges against him.
“I am not guilty,” Raymond said following the verdict. “I’ve never been cruel to a child, and I love children.”
Raymond, whose sentencing has not yet been scheduled, could face up to 40 years in prison.
A Christian nationalist pastor and supporter of Donald Trump, Raymond previously ran twice — unsuccessfully — for a seat in the state legislature. He has also separately testified, in his capacity as a pastor, before state lawmakers, arguing in favor of bills requiring schools to post “In God We Trust” in classrooms, allowing historical Bible courses to be taught in schools, and various anti-LGBTQ bills.
According to the school handbook, Lakeside Christian Academy bans homosexuality, viewing any expression of it, on or off campus, as “unacceptable.”
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