John Raymond is a member of the St. Tammany Parish Republican Committee and formerly served on the Executive Committee. He is also on the Louisiana Republican Central Committee. He ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress. He was also the first voted off the island on Survivor. He is the founding pastor of New Horizon Church which owns Bridge Radio and Lakeside Christian Academy. As a teacher and headmaster at Lakeside Christian Academy, he has more than once been charged with child abuse.
He was initially arrested for putting packing tape over three students’ mouths for excess talking. They had trouble breathing and the tape was left in place so long it was difficult to remove. His description of the event and that given by several others, including school employees are vastly different. News of his arrest motivated several other people to come forward with allegations of abuse going back several years.
He is said to have abused a four-year-old boy repeatedly, once keeping him from breathing until he was limp, lethargic, and unable to stand according to a teacher who witnessed it. He also dragged the child by his ankles and held the child upside down and whipped him on the buttocks.
Parents have filed suit. At his arraignment in December 2022, the judge recused himself and made a point of calling Raymond “a good man.” That he was arraigned so long after his arrest frustrated parents who thought officials simply did not want to charge him at all. His trial was scheduled for February 2023 but his lawyer said it was more likely to be postponed until August 2023.
Raymond is confident he will be acquitted. If there are more judges like the one at his arraignment, that is likely.
UPDATE: After a six-day trial, Raymond was convicted on September 20, 2024.
- 4WWL: Slidell school leader admits to taping students’ mouths, but said they were not harmed
- NOLA.com: After new cruelty to juveniles arrest, pastor takes leave of absence from Slidell school
- NOLA.com: Slidell pastor pleads not guilty to cruelty to juveniles; trial date set
- NOLA.com: Slidell pastor and former ‘Survivor’ contestant John Raymond found guilty of child cruelty
Alexandria, Louisiana · Wednesday, May 11, 2022