Louisiana GOP Endorses Accused Child Abuser

September 14, 2023 Christianists, Republicans

The Shreveport Times reports:

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.

In a May 2023 interview with USA Today Network, Raymond said he is “completely innocent” of the charges and has been on voluntary leave of absence from the school since his arrests. Raymond, who is also an elected member of the Louisiana Republican Party’s state central committee, hasn’t returned a call and text from USA Today Network for this story. The case is pending in state court.

From my May 2022 report:



John Raymond, a Slidell pastor who was accused of taping the mouths of three students at the Christian school he oversaw and beating another child, has been formally charged with four counts of cruelty to juveniles by the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Police said the new allegations include Raymond holding a 4-year-old boy upside down by his ankles and “whipping his buttocks” and in a separate incident covering the same child’s mouth and nose with his hand to stop a “tantrum.”

Witnesses reported Raymond’s actions prevented the child from breathing “to the point of him going limp.” A staff member said the child was “out of it and lethargic” and “unable to stand.”

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