COVINGTON, La. — As he took the stand, the first of four men accusing former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain of sex crimes stared down his accused rapist.
Now in his 50s, the witness gave graphic detail about what he says Strain did to him when he was just 10 years old and why he never told anyone until now.
“My whole life has been spent trying to please him," he said. “But not anymore.”
Assistant District Attorney Collin Sims began by having his witness establish the connection between himself and Strain. According to the witness, he grew up in Abita Springs in an extremely poor family. He lost his father at a young age and most of the work his mother and step-father could find was with the Strain family.
He worked for the Strains too– manning a fireworks stand owned by the family during the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve seasons in 1979 and 1980. That’s where he says Strain first molested him.
During the roughly month-long period when they’d sell fireworks, the two boys would live inside a camper at the fireworks stand, according to the witness. He, then just 10-years-old, would sleep inside the camper with 16-year-old Jack Strain.
Breaking down in tears, the witness accused Strain of rolling him over while he tried to sleep and molesting him until he was erect. Strain would then allegedly pull the boy close and penetrate himself with the 10-year-old’s penis.
“I played dead. I acted like I was asleep,” the witness said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
He eventually reached his breaking point, standing up and pointing directly at Strain, who watched silently throughout his testimony.
“Do you remember it?” He shouted. “He should stand up and admit it! He’s a coward!”
The allegations of abuse didn’t stop there. The witness testified that when Strain became an Abita Springs police officer at the age of 19, he would invite the then 13-year-old out on hunting and fishing trips, that always ended back at his apartment. Inside that apartment is where the witness claims Strain would perform oral sex on him.
“There was never no asking. We never talked about it,” he said. “He just did it.”
The witness eventually moved in with family in a different part of the state, moving him away from Strain. He testified that the abuse stopped once he was far away and he and his family were no longer reliant on the Strains for their financial well-being. That lasted until the mid-to-late ‘90s, when the witness lost his job and was forced to file for bankruptcy. Now, with a wife and children to care for, he needed income quickly – and Jack Strain had just been elected Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish.
The witness said he got a job at the Sheriff’s Office, putting him in a similar position to his childhood. He and his new family became reliant on Strain once again and the alleged sexual abuse resumed.
In order to get a promotion and a new work truck, the witness said he had to let Strain give him oral sex on a fishing trip.
“I hate to say this, but his words were ‘well, let’s have a taste,’” the witness said.
He also said that Strain invited him to a fishing and hunting cabin to have sex with a younger woman while Strain watched. The witness claimed that happened on two occasions. One time, he said Strain came in and out of the room while he had sex with the woman. The second time, he said Strain sat with the woman’s head in his lap, stroking her hair as the witness had sex with her.
When defense attorney Billy Gibbens questioned the witness, he focused on why the man would stay so close to Strain his entire life if he had so brutally raped him as a child.
Gibbens brought out text message exchanges between the two men, sharing family photos and making plans together. He showed photos of their two families on vacation together, asking the witness why he’d let his family – his children – around Strain after what he allegedly did.
The witness noted that his only family members in the photos were his wife and daughter.
“He didn’t like girls,” he said, staring down Strain.
Still, Gibbens attempted to poke holes in the witnesses story. Showing how close the man was to his alleged abuser and looking for discrepancies in the details of what the witness said today against what he’d told investigators earlier. Many of those investigators are scheduled to testify later in the trial.
The witness responded saying that Strain was like an older brother, even a father figure to him. As a bot, he took him hunting and fishing and even taught him how to drive.
“It’s off the wall crazy, but to this day, I love him,” the witness said.
The complicated relationship between Jack Strain and his accusers will continue to be examined Friday when the trial resumes at 9 a.m.
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