Victims of a Louisiana sheriff who was convicted of child rape and incest were able to confront their attacker as he was sentenced to four life sentences on Tuesday.
Jack Strain, the former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff, was convicted in November on four counts of aggravated incest, one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of sexual battery.
He was sentenced on Tuesday to four life sentences without parole on the aggravated rape charges, 15 years and a $15,000 fine on each of the aggravated incest charges and five years for indecent behavior with a juvenile and five years for sexual battery, according to FOX 8 News.
Judge A. Bruce Simpson also tacked on an additional 30 years for crimes committed against some of his family members, NOLA.com reports, and Strain, 59, now must also pay $30,000 in fines and nearly $28,000 for prosecution costs.
Attorneys say Strain will appeal the decision.
But following the sentencing some of his victims got their chance to confront the man who molested them as young boys, as one of the victim’s mother’s said she prays he would ‘never get out’ so he ‘will never, ever hurt another child.’
Jack Strain, a former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff, was convicted in November of incest and sexual assault charges
One of his victims, Mark Finn, a boyhood friend of Strain’s, unloaded for half an hour as he called him a predator, a monster and a pervert at his sentencing on Tuesday
Patricia Finn, Mark’s mother, said she blames herself for not realizing what her son was going through and told WWL that Strain ‘got exactly what he deserved’
Patricia showed old photos of Mark when he was just a young boy who was being molested
Mark Finn, a boyhood friend of Strain’s, unloaded for half an hour on Tuesday as he called him a predator, a monster and a pervert.
He asked Strain, who also pleaded guilty to a kick-back scheme in December, how he liked wearing prison clothing.
‘I’ve done over 25 years – prison, jail, halfway house and you controlled me,’ said Finn, who testified that the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Strain from the ages of 6 to 11 – along with the things Strain made him watch – resulted in drug problems, deep anger issues and an inability to trust.
‘What’s it done to me? My family?,’ he asked. ‘My mother used to think you were God and wouldn’t hurt her baby boy, but you did.’
At one point, Finn looked directly at Strain, and said: ‘Look at me, are you sorry? If you’re sorry, I’ll forgive you. If not, I hope you rot in hell.’
Strain reportedly did not say anything, but Finn’s mother, Patricia, told WWL: ‘He kept on looking at me.’
She said she blames herself for what happened to her son, saying: ‘I’m a momma, I should have known. But I swear to God I didn’t.
‘Because I knew this man since he was 10 years old and I would have never thought.’
Skip Keen, another victim, also spoke out against Strain at the sentencing on Tuesday, telling him: ‘You are the reason my wife and kids have memories of an angry, out-of-control person who would lash out for no reason.
‘More days than not, I hate myself,’ he said. ‘I have considered suicide. That’s on you.
‘You better be glad I can’t get my hands on you buddy,’ he then threatened. ‘You better be glad.’
Strain, center, was sentenced on Tuesday to four life sentences without parole
He has previously pleaded guilty to a kick-back scheme while he was in office
Strain ran the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office from 1996 to 2016 before he lost re-election.
He was arrested in 2019 on incest and rape charges following a state investigation into his sex crimes against juveniles.
An indictment claimed he had raped one victim sometime between June 1, 1979 and July 19, 1980, and against another victim between January 1, 1975 and September 8, 1981, the indictment shows. Strain would have been 12 years old in January 1975.
He was also accused in the indictment of committing aggravated incest on a third victim and committing indecent behavior with the same victim between April 1 1996 and July 1, 2002.
And he was accused of committing aggravated incest and sexual battery against a fourth victim on June 1, 2004.
Strain was also accused in the indictment used his position as sheriff to cover up his crimes, offering his victims jobs and pay.
Strain ran the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office from 1996 to 2016 before he lost re-election
At the trial last fall, FOX 8 reports, five victims, some of whom were Strain’s relatives testified about the sexual molestation they faced at his hands.
They all said they looked up to Strain as an older brother or father figure, but he betrayed their trust when he molested or raped them in tents, campers and his bedroom. In many cases, the molestations lasted into adulthood.
A jury found him guilty on all eight counts in just five hours after the two-week trial concluded.
In the aftermath, Patricia Finn said she doesn’t get any ‘satisfaction’ in putting Strain down.
‘I remember the little boy I fell in love with, 10 years old – for you to do that to my child at 6 years old? I blame myself.
‘How did I not see the hurt my child was going through.
‘I live with that in my heart and brain 24 hours a day,’ she said, telling WWL: ‘He got exactly what he deserved’ and saying: ‘They’ve got a special place in Hell for you.’
