SLIDELL, La. — The headmaster of a Louisiana private school has released a statement admitting he taped students’ mouths as a punishment, justifying it on the grounds that the children were bullying their teacher.
Rev. John Raymond, who is both the founder and headmaster of Lakeside Christian Academy, in Louisiana, was arrested and faces charges of cruelty to juveniles, Slidell police announced in a Facebook post.
**Headmaster of Lakeside Christian School Arrested for Taping Students’ Mouth Shut** Early this afternoon, Slidell...
Posted by Slidell Police Department on Thursday, April 7, 2022
Police said they began investigating Raymond after a complaint that Raymond had taped students’ mouths shut as a form of discipline.
In a statement posted to the school’s website, Raymond said he was attempting to address behavior issues in a classroom that had left their seventh-grade teacher “distraught and in tears.” Raymond said, “I told (the students), ‘I love you, but this has been going on all year and it has to stop immediately.’ I wanted to give them another chance. At this time, I pulled out a roll of clear Scotch packing tape and said, ‘I’m going to give you a choice. We can either go downstairs and call your parents and you can wait in the lobby to be suspended, or you can get tape on your mouth and learn how to be quiet during class.’”
Raymond said the students all chose tape, and that he made sure “it did not touch their nose or interfere with their breathing. At no time was tape wrapped around any student’s head.”
In his statement, Raymond admitted the school’s principal said she was uncomfortable with the punishment.
Investigators said the students told police they had trouble breathing and the tape removal process was painful, KFLY reported.
Raymond was previously a contestant on “Survivor” in 2002, and lost when he was voted off the island, USA Today reported.
Raymond serves on the Republican State Central Committee as well as the Republican Parish Executive Committee, and ran unsuccessfully for a Slidell-area House seat, NOLA.com reported.
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