The GOP proves once again that its moralistic outrage is just for show, this time in Louisiana with the endorsement of John Raymond, a candidate who has been charged with "criminal cruelty" to children. No matter that, as a school headmaster, he was arrested a couple of times for whipping and physically abusing a four-year-old, or that he also admitted to taping children's mouths shut as a form of punishment. He's a Christian MAGA man, after all, and "tape isn't a crime," as he put it.
Now the so-called minister and founder of Lakeside Christian Academy in a suburb of New Orleans is running for a state House seat with the blessing of his party. Meanwhile, his opponent, businessman Jay Gallé, is surprisingly stunned. "As a lifelong Republican it's an embarrassment," he said, via Shreveport Times.
"[The party] puts itself out there as a protector of children," continued the gullible candidate. "I can't express how disappointed I am that the Louisiana Republican Party has chosen to endorse a candidate with not one, not two, not three, but four criminal charges of cruelty to children." Well Sir, welcome to the party of "family values."
From Shreveport Times:
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 is accused of holding a 4-year-old boy upside down by his ankles and "whipping his buttocks" and taping three 13-year-old boys' mouths shut with packing tape for talking too much in class.
He is also accused of covering the 4-year-old's mouth and nose with his hand to stop the child's "tantrum" in a separate incident. In a news release, police said witnesses reported Raymond's actions prevented the child from breathing "to the point of him going limp." The witness, a staff member, said the child was "out of it and lethargic" and "unable to stand."
The children whose mouths were taped said they had trouble breathing and suffered pain when the tape was removed.
He is a familiar figure in the Capitol who testified in multiple hearings last spring supporting bills like requiring schools to post "In God We Trust" in classrooms, officially allowing historical Bible courses to be taught in public schools and in favor of LGBTQ restrictions. Among his written campaign promises: "Reject the woke trans-agenda."
Raymond's case is "pending in state court."
