New Orleans pastor sentenced to 80 years for sexually molesting two boys

Terry Reed, found guilty of rape and molestation of a juvenile, called ‘utter failure of a man’ by victim’s mother

A suburban New Orleans religious pastor has been sentenced to 80 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of sexually molesting two boys – the third time in which he was found guilty of abusing minors.

While Terry Reed received his punishment at a state court hearing on Thursday, the mother of one of his survivors read a victim-impact statement on behalf of her son which called him “an utter failure and a sorry excuse for a man”.

Jurors found Reed guilty on 6 May of two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of molestation of a juvenile, as Jefferson parish, Louisiana, district attorney Paul Connick’s office said in a statement.

He molested both survivors after gaining their guardians’ trust, taking them into his home in the Jefferson community of Terrytown. Prosecutors established that Reed, under the guise of acting as their pastor, cited biblical scripture to manipulate the youths into believing his sexually abusive behavior with them was normal.

The verdict against Reed in May came after two prior convictions for similar crimes. He had pleaded guilty in 1997 to indecent behavior with a juvenile. And in 2017, he pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile and molestation of a juvenile.

Reed faced up to 40 years in prison on each of the juvenile molestation convictions from May when he was brought before Judge Ray Steib for sentencing.

Steib imposed that maximum after hearing from the mother of one of the survivors at the center of the case, who detailed how she trusted Reed because she had known him since she was a young girl.

She said Reed knew she had been sexually molested as a child herself. She recounted that she was a single mother living outside Louisiana when she asked Reed for help for her troubled son before he took the minor in.

“I gave Terry the opportunity to be the grandfather figure that he long wanted to be,” she said during the hearing in front of Steib.

Reed’s subsequent abuse “triggered the deepest wound of my childhood. I felt profoundly betrayed,” she added.

Beside calling him “an utter failure and a sorry excuse for a man”, the statement that the victim’s mother read on behalf of her son said: “It is done. It is over. And I couldn’t be more glad.”

“You disgust me,” the statement added, referring to Reed.

Another dark chapter in Reed’s past which did not come up in Steib’s court involved the deaths of two boys – ages 12 and 13 – in a hot tub at his home in 2002. Investigators later determined that the children had been electrocuted, though they said they were unable to classify whether the deaths had been a homicide, suicide, accidental or natural, according to a contemporary news media report.

Like much of the rest of the US, the New Orleans area has grappled for decades with sexually abusive religious leaders in various denominations.

At least five men who had served as Catholic priests within the archdiocese of New Orleans have been convicted of sexually violent crimes, including against children, after the institution filed for federal bankruptcy protection in 2020 amid the financial fallout of a decades-old clergy abuse scandal.

Furthermore, in February, in the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette, Pentecostal pastor Milton Otto Martin III was sentenced to seven years in prison after a jury convicted him of molesting a teenage girl.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International