Tag: sexual abuse

Terrytown pastor Terry Reed guilty of sexually abusing teens

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated less than an hour on Wednesday (May 6) in finding Terrytown pastor and convicted sex offender Terry Reed guilty of sexually abusing two young teens. 

Reed, 66, is guilty as charged of two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of molestation of a juvenile, jurors decided. 

Reed, who ministered from his North Marlin Court residence in Terrytown, mentored the victims who had troubled home lives. He allowed them to move in with him and used bible verses and scripture to manipulate, normalize and justify his sexual behavior with them.  

“He has preyed on these very, very troubled boys who don’t have a father figure in their lives,” Assistant District Attorney James Wascom told jurors in closing argument Wednesday. 

Reed “held himself out to be a saint” in the eyes of the two victims as well as his congregation, members of which testified on his behalf, Assistant District Attorney Eric Cusimano told jurors in closing argument. “He is the worst kind of predator in this community that we can have.”  

Reed already was a convicted sex offender before his arrest in the crimes for which he was convicted Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile in 1997, and to indecent behavior with a juvenile and molestation of a juvenile in 2017, jurors heard during this week’s trial. In the later crime, he told the juvenile he had to submit to certain acts “to fight off demons.” He received probation in both cases. 

Then, in April or May of 2021 during the Covid 19 pandemic, a 16-year-old who had a troubled relationship with his mother began visiting Reed’s home. Reed sexually abused the victim during those visits, before the victim moved into Reed’s home in August 2021. The abuse continued for about three years. At age 19, that victim disclosed the abuse, leading to Reed’s arrest in 2023. These crimes are the basis of the third-degree rape convictions. 

Upon learning of Reed’s arrest, a 29-year-old man reported that he, too, had been sexually abused by Reed when he moved into the pastor’s home in May of 2011, when he was 16 years old. Reed continued to sexually abuse the victim until the victim was 21 years old. Reed was charged with two counts of molestation of a juvenile for abuse that occurred before this victim was 17 years old. 

The victims deserve justice, Assistant DA Wascom told jurors in urging them to find Reed guilty as charged. But so, too, does Reed. “He deserves to be accountable for what he has been doing for over 30 years,” Wascom said. 

When arrested by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in 2023, Reed readily admitted to a detective that he is a sex offender. But he asserted that diabetes and prostate cancer left him unable to perform sexually, and that he had not had sex in 10 years. He conversely said that his sexual relations with the teens occurred when they were 17, at the age of consent, meaning they were no longer juveniles and that no crime occurred. His defense attorney asserted the Sheriff’s Office inserted errors into its investigative reports, and the case lacked evidence beyond the statements provided by the victims. 

Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Reed on June 18. 

Assistant District Attorneys James Wascom and Eric Cusimano prosecuted the case. 

Stephen Sauer pleads guilty to drugging, molesting 17 men, gets 25-year sentence

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (July 7) sentenced Stephen Sauer to 25 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to being a serial sexual predator who drugged 17 men he met in the French Quarter and drove the unconscious victims to his Metairie home. There, he used mobile devices to obtain images of the victims in various stages of undress; he molested some of the men.

Sauer, 61, admitted to targeting men who appeared to be intoxicated, lost or in need of assistance. Then, in offering to help, he drugged the men. In some cases, he put narcotics in their drinks while at bars or, after they passed out from drinking alcohol, he used an eyedropper to feed them the sleep-inducing substances.

Sauer then drove the victims to his home in the 4700 block of Purdue Drive, where he photographed or videotaped the unconscious men. He molested some of the men and pleasured himself, and the following morning he gave them rides to their hotels or other locations.

He shared his images with others through a website or traded the images with others via email, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office found in its investigation.

Many of the victims were visiting New Orleans from out of state, were separated from friends or simply lost when Sauer approached them and offered help. The crimes for which he was charged occurred over a two-year period beginning in 2019.

Sauer pleaded guilty to 13 counts of sexual battery, nine counts of third-degree rape, 17 counts of video voyeurism and to 16 misdemeanor charges of possessing legend drugs without prescriptions and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sauer admitted his crimes and pled guilty as charged in 24th Judicial District Judge Shayna Beevers Morvant’s court and was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison. The judge additionally ordered Sauer to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and to refrain from contacting 12 of his victims for the rest of his life.

The investigation began in June 2021, after Sauer sent a computer hard drive to an electronics repair company in New York. A data recovery technician found hundreds of images suggesting sexual assaults had taken place. New York law enforcement officials determined the images were taken in Metairie and notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives were able to identify many victims in part because Sauer took photographs of their driver’s licenses or other forms of identification.

In Sauer’s home, detectives found prescription pill bottles in the name of a convicted sex offender in Missouri. The narcotics included a common “date rape” drug, Zolpidem.

Detectives believe that more than 50 victims remain unidentified.

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.