A suburban New Orleans pastor, Terry Reed, has been sentenced to 80 years in prison after being convicted of sexually molesting two boys. This marks the third time Reed has been found guilty of abusing minors.
Sentencing and Victim Impact Statement
At a state court hearing on Thursday, the mother of one of the survivors read a victim-impact statement on behalf of her son, calling Reed "an utter failure and a sorry excuse for a man." Judge Ray Steib imposed the maximum sentence of 40 years on each of the two juvenile molestation convictions from May.
Jurors found Reed guilty on May 6 of two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of molestation of a juvenile, according to Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick's office.
Manipulation and Abuse
Reed 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 was normal.
The mother 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 being 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. Reed's subsequent abuse "triggered the deepest wound of my childhood. I felt profoundly betrayed," she added.
Prior Convictions
The verdict against Reed in May came after two prior convictions for similar crimes. He pleaded guilty in 1997 to indecent behavior with a juvenile and in 2017 to indecent behavior with a juvenile and molestation of a juvenile.
Another dark chapter in Reed's past involved the deaths of two boys, ages 12 and 13, in a hot tub at his home in 2002. Investigators determined the children had been electrocuted but could not classify the deaths as homicide, suicide, accidental, or natural.
Broader Context of Clergy Abuse
The New Orleans area has grappled for decades with sexually abusive religious leaders in various denominations. At least five 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 clergy abuse scandal. In February, in the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette, Pentecostal pastor Milton Otto Martin III was sentenced to seven years for molesting a teenage girl.
