A Republican Official And Former Headmaster Who Was Arrested On Child Cruelty Charges Was Arrested Again After A Witness Claimed He Held 4-Year-Old Child Upside Down And Hit Him

Not long ago, we reported on the arrest of Louisiana pastor and Republican party official Rev. John Raymond on charges of child cruelty, after he was accused of taping the mouths of multiple children shut at the Christian school where he served as headmaster, according to reporting at the time from the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.

Now, it seems Raymond has officially stepped down from his position as headmaster at Lakeside Christian Academy after he was reportedly arrested a second time, according to NOLA.com, this time for allegedly physically abusing a 4-year-old child.

It was just a mere month ago that Pastor John Raymond was arrested over the incident in which he taped several children’s mouths shut at the Christian school he runs in Slidell, a city in the St. Tammany Parish. Raymond defended the taping incident by claiming that he gave the 5 victims the choice of having their mouths taped shut with packing tape or facing a suspension from school after they allegedly bullied a teacher.

USA Today reported that Raymond personally claimed “all five volunteered to have their mouths taped shut” and “said the tape didn’t impede their breathing and wasn’t wrapped all the way around their heads.”

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But now, no sooner than the dust settled around his first scandal, Raymond has been accused of heinous abuse against yet another child at the Lakeside Christian Academy that he personally founded.

NOLA.com’s Sara Pagones reports, “several witnesses, including former teachers, faculty, and parents, came forward to report additional incidents, some going back as far as 2017. In another incident, Raymond allegedly held the boy upside down by his ankles and repeatedly ‘whipped him on the buttocks.'”

The report also makes note that Raymond, who serves on St. Tammany’s Republican Parish Executive Committee, once appeared on the reality TV show, Survivor, and made an unsuccessful run for a seat on the Louisiana House of Representatives.

The local report writes that, following charges on three counts of cruelty to juveniles, Raymond was arrested and taken into custody and school officials notified parents that the headmaster was taking a leave of absence “as these matters are being resolved.”