Louisiana Pastor Admits To Taping Students' Mouths Shut

SLIDELL, LA — A Louisiana pastor and headmaster admitted to taping students' mouths shut as a punishment and defended his actions in a statement Sunday, saying the students were bullying their teacher.

John Raymond, 60 — who is the headmaster of Lakeside Christian Academy, a former contestant on "Survivor: Thailand" and a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee — is charged with three counts of cruelty to a juvenile from the incident, which occurred in March. He said a group of five students had exhibited behavioral problems throughout the school year and refused to stop talking in class. The behavior had the teacher on the verge of quitting her job, according to Raymond.

None of the students was harmed, Raymond said in the lengthy statement, and he refuted reports from the Slidell Police Department that the tape went around students' heads. The students were taken out of class, and Raymond said he gave the students a choice: Get tape placed over their mouths or be subject to a suspension.

"The students all chose tape, and I pulled off one piece at a time and carefully placed it over their mouths making sure that it did not touch their nose or interfere with their breathing," Raymond said. "At no time was tape wrapped around any student’s head."

The students returned to class after their mouths were taped with clear packing tape.

When he told the principal the students chose to have tape placed over their mouths in lieu of a suspension, the principal expressed discomfort about the idea. Shortly after, both administrators pulled the students out of the classroom and "carefully removed" the tape from their mouths, according to Raymond.

This disputes the account from Slidell police that scissors were used to remove tape that wrapped around the students' heads.

Raymond estimated that the tape could not have been on the students for more than eight to 10 minutes, another disparity from the police account, which said the students had tape on their mouths for 45 minutes.

Parents of three of the five students are filing charges against Raymond.

Raymond said he attempted to give a statement to Slidell police, but he was not contacted until an arrest warrant was issued.

"No student was ever treated with cruelty or harmed in any way," Raymond said.