S4|E13: Concerned Citizens

Summary

Gone South: S4|E13 – Concerned Citizens

Introduction

In the thirteenth episode of Season Four of Gone South, titled "Concerned Citizens," host Jed Lipinski delves into a gripping tale of corruption and resilience in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. This episode chronicles the journey of Laura King, a principled toxicologist, and her husband Terry King, a diligent financial advisor, as they confront and dismantle a deeply entrenched web of corruption within their community. Through personal testimonies, investigative efforts, and unwavering determination, the Kings expose systemic malfeasance that had long plagued their parish.

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Laura King's Troubled Tenure and Unjust Termination

The story begins with Laura King’s professional struggle. At the age of 42, Laura, holding a Ph.D. in toxicology, was hired to establish the St. Tammany Parish coroner's own toxicology lab, funded by a federal grant. However, her enthusiasm quickly waned as she encountered a hostile and unprofessional work environment.

Laura King [02:48]:

"The coroner's office was a difficult place for me to work. They did not want to have anything put in writing. They did not want to have a human resources manual. They were not professional."

Her manager, Dr. Peter Galvin, exemplified this unprofessionalism. Galvin’s inappropriate behavior—manifested in unsolicited physical contact—created a toxic atmosphere. Despite repeated requests to cease his actions, Galvin dismissed these concerns, asserting his derogatory belief in "healing with his hands."

Laura King [03:28]:

"I kind of laughed it off because I don't know what else I could have done."

The situation escalated when Galvin organized unorthodox office activities, including crawfish boil parties during business hours. This unprofessional conduct reached a nadir when, during one such event, bereaved family members were forced to navigate the chaotic environment to identify their loved ones.

Jed Lipinski [03:36]:

"That wasn't all. The coroner occasionally threw parties, including crawfish boils, inside the office during business hours."

In winter [04:29], Laura refused her manager’s request to divert grant funds meant for the toxicology lab to purchase a computer for a new executive. Her ethical stance led to accusations of non-cooperation, culminating in her termination.

Laura King [04:29]:

"I was terminated from my position at the coroner's office because of my refusal to use grant money to purchase the computer."

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The Kings' Legal Battle and Terry's Uncovering of Deeper Corruption

Faced with unjust dismissal, Laura and Terry King opted to file a lawsuit against the coroner’s office. Despite their efforts, the case was dismissed [05:54], with the judge attributing it to personal grievances rather than substantial wrongdoing.

Undeterred, Terry King leveraged his expertise in auditing and compliance to meticulously document the ongoing misdeeds within the coroner's office. This diligence caught the attention of the FBI, leading Terry to serve as a confidential informant [07:17].

Jed Lipinski [07:35]:

"Most county coroners don't have yachts and airplanes. But according to Terry, Galvin was one of the highest paid public officials in the country."

Through his collaboration with the FBI, Terry unearthed significant financial misconduct by Dr. Galvin, including extravagant personal expenditures funded by public money. This revelation garnered national media attention, culminating in Galvin’s conviction for conspiring to steal government funds.

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Unmasking District Attorney Walter Reed

The investigative momentum didn’t stop with Galvin. The Kings, along with the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish, turned their sights to Walter Reed, the district attorney who had wielded immense power for nearly three decades [05:15].

A pivotal moment came when Clare Erson, a former girlfriend of Reed, stepped forward with damning evidence. She revealed that Reed had coerced her into forging his name on campaign checks and had a penchant for using platforms like SugarDaddy.com to facilitate illicit activities.

Clare Erson [18:10]:

"I had all the scoop on Walter. I know more about Walter Reed than Walter knows about himself."

Armed with Erson’s testimony and documented evidence, Terry presented a compelling case to the FBI. The investigation swiftly progressed, leading to Reed’s indictment and subsequent conviction on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering [25:19].

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The Dark Underbelly of Sheriff Jack Strain

No narrative of St. Tammany Parish’s corruption would be complete without addressing Sheriff Jack Strain, a long-standing and influential figure notorious for his racist rhetoric and exorbitant incarceration rates [11:54].

The Kings’ investigation revealed that Strain had been exploiting the parish’s work release program, siphoning profits for personal gain and allowing inmates excessive freedom, leading to increased crime rates outside the jail [10:14].

The turning point came when Mark Finn, a former inmate and childhood victim of Strain’s abuse, came forward with harrowing allegations of sexual abuse spanning from ages six to twelve. Finn’s courageous testimony [27:44] and additional victim accounts dismantled Strain’s facade of invincibility.

Mark Finn [27:14]:

"He was extremely powerful. He was extremely popular."

Strain was eventually indicted on numerous charges, including aggravated rape and sexual battery, and was sentenced to multiple life terms [29:52]. His downfall marked the triad collapse of corruption involving the Coroner, the District Attorney, and the Sheriff in St. Tammany Parish.

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Formation and Triumph of the Concerned Citizens

Recognizing the pervasive corruption, Terry King collaborated with the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish—a formidable group comprising experts from various fields, including military veterans, engineers, attorneys, and fraud examiners [15:17]. This coalition amplified their investigative capabilities, enabling them to systematically expose and prosecute corrupt officials.

Jack Strain [30:39]:

"This was the triple crown we took out the coroner, the sheriff, and the District Attorney all in one parish."

The Concerned Citizens' relentless efforts not only brought down key figures like Galvin, Reed, and Strain but also extended their influence to convict or remove 29 other individuals from positions of power, including the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish and the Chief of Police of Bay St. Louis [30:51].

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Conclusion and Impact

The Kings’ unwavering pursuit of justice transformed St. Tammany Parish, dismantling a deeply rooted corrupt system and restoring integrity to public offices. Their story exemplifies the profound impact that dedicated individuals and community-driven initiatives can have in combating systemic corruption.

Jack Strain [31:08]:

"And so we took great pride in that. We worked really hard for it. We all took tremendous risk. But in the end, I believe we've changed our community for the better."

The episode underscores themes of resilience, ethical steadfastness, and the power of collective action in the face of entrenched wrongdoing. For listeners unfamiliar with the episode, "Concerned Citizens" offers a compelling exploration of how ordinary citizens can effect extraordinary change within their communities.

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Key Takeaways:

• Ethical Resistance: Laura King’s refusal to participate in grant fraud set off a chain reaction that exposed broader corruption.

• Collaborative Investigation: The partnership between the Kings and the Concerned Citizens illustrates the strength of community collaboration in investigative efforts.

• Courage to Act: Individuals like Clare Erson and Mark Finn exemplify the bravery required to come forward against powerful figures.

• Systemic Change: The successful prosecution of multiple high-ranking officials highlights the potential for systemic reform through persistent effort.

Notable Quotes:

• Laura King [02:48]:

  "The coroner's office was a difficult place for me to work. They did not want to have anything put in writing. They did not want to have a human resources manual. They were not professional."

• Jack Strain [30:39]:

  "This was the triple crown we took out the coroner, the sheriff, and the District Attorney all in one parish. And according to the FBI, that's never been done before."

• Jack Strain [31:08]:

  "And so we took great pride in that. We worked really hard for it. We all took tremendous risk. But in the end, I believe we've changed our community for the better."

---

Final Thoughts

"Gone South: Concerned Citizens" serves as a testament to the profound difference that individuals can make against systemic corruption. Through meticulous investigation and sheer determination, Laura and Terry King, supported by the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish, not only sought justice for themselves but also revitalized their entire community. This episode is a compelling narrative of courage, collaboration, and the relentless pursuit of truth.

Transcript

[Jed Lipinski]

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[Laura King]

The coroner's office was a difficult place for me to work. They did not want to have anything put in writing. They did not want to have a human resources manual. They were not professional.

[Terry King]

The coroner himself, Dr. Peter Galvin, an internist with his own private practice, was perhaps the least professional of all the coroner.

[Laura King]

Peter Galvin would repeatedly hug and kiss me whenever he saw me because that was his personal habit. And even when he was told to stop doing that, he refused, saying that he was a doctor and he healed with his hands.

[Terry King]

He said, I'm a doctor and I heal with my hands.

[Laura King]

Yes.

[Terry King]

And what did you say when he said that to you?

[Laura King]

I kind of laughed it off because I don't know what else I could have done.

[Jed Lipinski]

That wasn't all. The coroner occasionally threw parties, including crawfish boils, inside the office during business hours.

[Laura King]

Crawfish boil, for those that don't know, is basically a big party where they boil seafood and they dump it out on a table and you peel it and eat it right there. And during one of these crawfish boil parties, a family of someone that had been killed, they had to come identify the body, and they had to walk through the. The entire coroner's office staff participating in this crawfish boil. So, again, not professional, Not a good impression for that poor family that had to do this.

[Terry King]

Things finally came to a head that winter. Laura's manager had asked her to buy a computer for a new executive with the grant money, but that money was earmarked for the toxicology lab, not new computers for executives. Laura refused.

[Laura King]

I was told that I was not being a team player and I wasn't cooperating. And ultimately, I was terminated from my position at the coroner's office because of my refusal to use grant money to purchase the computer.

[Jed Lipinski]

A toxicologist losing her job for refusing to commit grant fraud was not a sexy news story. It barely registered in the local media. But that small act of resistance set in motion a sequence of events that drew national attention to St. Tammany Parish and wound up toppling one of the most powerful and entrenched political dynasties in the history of Louisiana politics. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South.

[Terry King]

We talk a lot about St. Tammany Parish in this podcast. It started with Margaret Coon, the subject of season one, and a former assistant DA in St. Tammany who was stabbed to death while jogging through her neighborhood at night. After that season came out, a lot of people suggested we investigate other crimes in the parish. Several recommended we focus on crimes committed by its public officials over the last 10 years. The coroner, the district attorney, and the sheriff were all given prison time. As longtime New Orleans defense attorney Pat Fanning recently told us, the highest concentration.

[Jack Strain]

Of crime in St. Thomas parish was at City hall in the courthouse.

[Terry King]

I was familiar with the headlines, but I had no idea how the parish's top law enforcement officers had all wound up in jail. In this episode, we decided to figure that out. Laura King was fired after just over a year at the coroner's office. When she got home that night, she told her husband, Terry, what happened. Terry's a financial advisor with a background in auditing and compliance management, meaning he spent years making sure companies follow the rules and reporting them to the authorities if they don't.

[Jack Strain]

I was actually sitting on my couch having a drink of Booker's whiskey and asked my wife, where do we go from here now? Because she had just gotten fired. And she's like, what do you mean? And I said, well, we have to make a decision here.

[Terry King]

Terri and Laura figured they had two chalk it up as a bad experience and move on, or file a lawsuit and fight back. They went with option B. Fortunately, Laura had been documenting misbehavior inside the coroner's office from her first month on the job. In the complaint, Laura outlined the grant fraud allegations. She also mentioned the coroner's habit of trying to heal her with his hands, something that, until now, she'd neglected to tell Terry.

[Jack Strain]

I said, why am I just now finding out about this? And she's like, well, I didn't want you to take matters into your own hands.

[Jed Lipinski]

The lawsuit dragged on for years. It took up an enormous amount of Laura and Terry's time and energy. But it also allowed Terry to uncover a trove of illegal behavior inside the coroner's office. Terry passed a lot of this information to the FBI, who asked him to work as a confidential informant.

[Jack Strain]

And so, usually about once every week or two, my FBI agent would come by and we would go through whatever information we had collected during that time.

[Jed Lipinski]

While the term confidential informant may conjure an image of fake mustaches in clandestine meetings, the reality was far less interesting. Terry spent months of his life studying the coroner's bank statements and tracking down receipts.

[Jack Strain]

He bought stuff for his yacht and for his airplane and things like that.

[Jed Lipinski]

Most county coroners don't have yachts and airplanes. But according to Terry, Galvin was one of the highest paid public officials in the country. His salary, plus benefits came to around $240,000 a year, Terry said, which was a lot considering that Galvin also had a private practice, and based on Laura's days on the job, he only worked as a Coroner for about three or four hours a week. In the summer of 2014, Laura and Terry's lawsuit was dismissed. In handing down his ruling, the judge explained, quote, really this case is just about someone with hurt feelings. Undeterred lore and Terry decided to share Terry's findings with the media.

[Terry King]

Allegations against Dr. Peter Galvin ranged from inappropriate conduct to improper spending of taxpayer dollars.

[Jed Lipinski]

News outlets wound up running more than 100 stories about coroner Peter Galvin. Many of them featured Terry. The people of St. Tammany were appalled. After a multi year investigation, Peter Galvin was indicted by the federal government and eventually convicted of conspiring to steal government funds. He was sentenced to three years in.

[Jack Strain]

Prison, and his chief financial officer and his chief death investigator were both given 18 months of probation, or something like that.

[Jed Lipinski]

Terry framed a copy of the front page headline announcing Galvin's prison sentence and mounted it on his wall like a hunting trophy. Terry then returned to his normal routine, which included his weekly Rotary Club meeting. It was there that a local engineer named Pete Damon pulled him aside. Back in the 90s, Pete had also been a confidential informant for the FBI during an investigation into the St. Tammany school board. He asked about Terry's future plans.

[Jack Strain]

Pete came up to me and told me, said, so what are you gonna do now? And I said, well, I gotta go back to work. What do you mean? And he said, terry, he said, when I did this thing with the FBI years ago, people came out of the woodwork asking me to help them. He said, now, I'm not telling you you have to help them or suggesting that you should. He said, but you do need to think about how you're going to answer that request whenever they come to you.

[Jed Lipinski]

Terry had not intended to keep investigating public officials. He had a family and a long list of financial clients. But his role in the Galvin investigation had thrown him into the spotlight. And just as Pete said, whistleblowers began coming out of the woodwork. Their complaints ranged widely. This was St. Tammany, after all, a place famous for corruption, even by New Orleans standards. A lot of the complaints Terry was hearing, though, concerned the parish's work release program. Work release programs are kind of like halfway houses with more supervision to help inmates transition back into society. They're allowed to leave the jail and work regular jobs, but they go back to their cells at night. Companies paid the parish to use the program because they could hire inmates for as low as $7 an hour. But according to Terry's sources, the sheriff, a man named Jack Strain, was stealing the program's profits and directing them to himself and his family. Not only that, he was violating the basic rules of the program. Many inmates came and went as they pleased with no supervision. Terry heard rumors of inmates using drugs and committing crimes while they were on the outside. Terry wasn't sure what to think. Removing the coroner from office was one thing. Going after the sheriff was something else entirely.

[Jack Strain]

So Jack Strain wasn't just some local yokel. His family is extremely powerful in Louisiana politics. His uncle was a state senator for many years. He was a fixture in the community, and, of course, he oversaw the highest incarceration rate in the world.

[Jed Lipinski]

Jack Strain had been the sheriff of St. Tammany for close to 20 years. During that time, he'd helped put more people in prison per capita than any sheriff in America. In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina displaced many poor black residents of New Orleans, Strain went on TV and, in an overtly racist threat, warned them not to come to St. Tammany.

[Jack Strain]

Now, you know I don't get into calling people names and all of that fact, but if you're gonna walk the streets of St Tammany parish with dreadlocks and chee wee hairstyles, then you can expect to be getting a visit from a sheriff's deputy.

[Jed Lipinski]

Terry worried that if he started digging into strange affairs, the sheriff might try to lock him up, too.

[Jack Strain]

I was very concerned that law enforcement was going to arrest me or harass me or whatever. If they're already corrupt, they're not going to have problems indicting me or planning something in my vehicle.

[Jed Lipinski]

Still, his investigation into the coroner had proved that he could make a difference in his community. He decided to see what else the sheriff was hiding.

[Jack Strain]

I jumped in with both feet, and at that point, I knew I had to win or I was going to jail.

[N/A]

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[Ben Stiller]

I'm Adam Scott and we make a TV show called Severance. On January 17th, Severance is back for season two on Apple TV and we can't wait for you guys to see it. And before the premiere, Ben and I are going to be binging season one and putting out daily recap podcasts. Yep, each weekday beginning January 7th, we'll be dropping an episode featuring a exclusive behind the scenes tidbits and brilliant insights from our cast and crew and us. Patricia Arquette, Britt Lauer, Zach Cherry, John Turturro. The list goes on. All your favorite Lumen employees, their friends, families, enemies in your feed every single weekday. And here's the best part. After that, we're gonna keep going. Tune in weekly as we recap every episode of season two. The podcast drops on the same day the episode comes out. It's the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Laura King]

Wow.

[Adam Scott]

What's up?

[N/A]

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[Adam Scott]

You, the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white bought and financed a car in minutes.

[N/A]

They made it easy, transparent terms, customizable, down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork.

[Jed Lipinski]

Wow.

[Jack Strain]

Mm.

[Jed Lipinski]

Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet.

[N/A]

I sent you for our dinner?

[Adam Scott]

Options Finance your car with Carvana and experience Total control financing subject to credit.

[Jack Strain]

Approval.

[Terry King]

Investigating the sheriff was a bigger job than investigating the coroner. Terry didn't think he could do it alone, so he partnered with a local good government group known as the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany. The name didn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of local officials, but its board members were surprisingly hardcore.

[Jack Strain]

We had a two star general who went in and took over operations in Somalia after the Black Hawk down episode. We had the former JAG of the Marine Corps Reserves. We had a former police officer, an engineer, several attorneys who were partners in their law firms. Certified fraud examiner who ran the fraud examination after the BP oil spill. We had some pretty intimidating characters on there.

[Terry King]

Terry told the Concerned Citizens what he'd heard about the sheriff's corrupt work release program. As it happened, Terry they'd heard similar rumors, mostly from former inmates who'd done time in the program. But their stories were hard to substantiate and almost no one wanted to go on the record.

[Jack Strain]

Sometime around there, Arab Spring occurred. And if you remember, in Arab Spring, they talked about how people were using social media to communicate outside the eyes of law enforcement and outside the eyes of the government. And so we took that lesson that they had and figured out if the concerned citizens of St. Tammany started posting all this information, people might start commenting to us by private message and we could get more information to help us get further down the road.

[Terry King]

Terry and the concerned citizens began posting the rumors they'd heard on Facebook, a process Terry called chumming the waters.

[Jack Strain]

And so since we gave them that veil of secrecy, people took it, and we got just inundated with messages and inundated with information.

[Terry King]

As they expected, a lot of the messages concerned Jack Strain. But to Terry's surprise, just as many were about the parish's longtime district attorney, Walter Reed. Reed had risen to power in the early 1980s during a surge in law and order campaigns across the country. He'd been in office for close to 30 years, making him one of the longest serving DAs in US history. Terry called him the godfather of St. Tammany Parish.

[Jack Strain]

He was extremely powerful. He was extremely popular.

[Terry King]

Terry assumed that taking on the district attorney was more than they could handle. They decided to focus their efforts on Jack Strain. But then Terry met someone who changed his mind about Reed's invincibility. Her name was Clare Erson. She dated Reid for 10 years, but they'd recently broken up. To Terry's delight, Claire was prepared to go public with what she knew. When I called Claire this fall, her relationship with Reid was still fresh in her mind.

[Claire Erson]

He refused to marry me. He would give me engagement rings. I called them. Shut up. Rings. He was not going to give up his playboy status, I bet. Oh, you have no idea, Jed. You just don't know. Nobody knows like I know. I had all the scoop on Walter. I know more about Walter Reed than Walter knows about himself.

[Jed Lipinski]

As Claire told Terry, her relationship with Walter Reed ended after he pressured her to forge his name on a stack of campaign checks. She worried Reed was trying to blackmail her. To protect herself, she began compiling documents that detailed his misuse of campaign funds, among other indiscretions she'd witnessed during their years together.

[Terry King]

Terry was still working as a confidential informant for the FBI. When he learned what Claire had compiled, he told his FBI handlers about her. Claire was preparing to move to Denver at the time in what she said was an attempt to get away from Reed. She was not expecting a visit from the FBI.

[Claire Erson]

A couple girlfriends are there helping me, and these guys come knock at the door and they're like, we need to speak to Claire Erson. What for? And then they pulled out. Do, do, do, do do they? FBI, we need to talk to you about Walter Reed. And I'm about shitting in my pants.

[Jed Lipinski]

The agents escorted Claire to an unmarked car with tinted windows parked outside. They proceeded to debrief her for four hours. Among the things Claire said she told the agents was that Reid had given her around $35,000 to help with moving costs as long as she kept what she knew about him to herself.

[Claire Erson]

I said, walter gave me money to move if I didn't talk about him. He gave me money in $20 bills. And they were like, what? He gave you money? Yes, he did. He gave me money to shut up, to go away. And they went, well, do you still have this money? Well, I did. I had it in this box, what I had left, and it was about $12,000. I gave it to the feds, and they took it.

[Terry King]

In addition to the money, Claire gave the feds what she called her Walter file, a box of documents she'd collected that Claire says outlined his habit of spending campaign funds on elaborate dinners and kickbacks to family members. It also detailed his frequent use of SugarDaddy.com, a website that connects older, wealthy men with younger women. Claire told Terry about the Walter file, too. It sounded promising, but Terry assumed the FBI's investigation would proceed slowly if it proceeded at all.

[Jack Strain]

We knew that he was going to be a much more difficult fight because he's smart and he had an entire law office at his disposal, through the District Attorney's office.

[Jed Lipinski]

It was true. Even with Claire's evidence, Walter Reed was not going to go down easy. He had a whole system in St. Tammany that he'd spent years rigging in his favor. Maybe it turned out a little too much.

[N/A]

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[Terry King]

In March of 2015, Terry was in Arkansas for a work event when he got a call from a member of the Concerned Citizens Investigative Committee. The guy told terry that Walter Reed's brother Richard, then 65 years old, had just tried to kidnap a woman at a local bar.

[Jack Strain]

And apparently Richard Reed had been at the Chimes Bar and restaurant and had been plying this young woman who was in her 20s, with alcohol and maybe something else and tried to kidnap her. As she was trying to leave the.

[Terry King]

Bar, a waitress had called the cops who rushed out to interview her.

[Jack Strain]

By this time, Richard's already got the woman in the car driving to his house or apartment, whatever he lives in, and they pull him over. He gets out, pulls out a badge and says do you know who I am? And tries to chest bump this 30 something year old cop.

[Terry King]

The badge was a DA investigator's badge, but Richard wasn't a DA investigator. Walter had given him the badge to get out of speeding tickets and other minor offenses, but Richard had just used it to try to get out of a major felony.

[Jack Strain]

When he pulled out that badge, he crossed a very bright line of things. You do not do it Flipped a switch.

[Terry King]

Richard Reed was arrested and later indicted on charges of sexual battery and second degree kidnapping. A few days later, Terry heard that the FBI was fast tracking their investigation of Walter. His decision to give his brother that DA badge was a public safety issue, something the FBI took very seriously.

[Jack Strain]

Next thing you know, Walter Reed was indicted.

[Terry King]

Walter Reed was ultimately convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

[Jed Lipinski]

In just two years, Terry had helped put two corrupt St. Tammany officials behind bars. He framed the front page story about Reed and hung it next to the framed story about Peter Galvin. Now it was time to turn the focus back on Sheriff Jack Strain. He was still in power, but the fall of Walter Reed had left him vulnerable. Then, in 2015, Strain lost the election to a local police chief. Terry and the concerned citizens saw an opportunity.

[Terry King]

During their years long investigation of Strain, Terry had noticed that a single individual kept coming up. His name was Mark Finn. Mark was a drug addict who'd spent much of his adult life in jail. He had the word psycho tattooed on his neck. He was known for his violent temper.

[Jack Strain]

He was a very aggressive fighter, fought all the cops and everything. And he'd even fought mixed martial arts on television.

[Terry King]

Terry had passed Mark's name to the FBI early on. He'd all but forgotten about him. But then Terry heard that Mark Finn wanted to meet him face to face. Terry didn't immediately agree. He was scared of Mark Finn, but he was curious to know what he had to say.

[Jack Strain]

So I picked up Mark at his apartment. He was staying at a friend's place and literally I'd never met the guy. So as we're driving over there, I didn't even put my seatbelt on because I wanted to be able to jump out of the truck in case he did attack me or something like that.

[Terry King]

Terry brought Mark to a church near his office. He asked for Mark's permission to record their conversation. Mark agreed.

[Jack Strain]

I've got it on record now. This is Terry King. I'm meeting with Mark Finn. Today's February 21st.

[Terry King]

This is a recording of Terry's conversation with Mark Finn.

[Jack Strain]

Well, what would you like to tell us about what happened to you? First of all, Jackson Davis is my godfather.

[Terry King]

Mark explained that his father and Strain were friends, and Mark had spent much of his childhood at Strain's house. He'd never spoken publicly about Strain before, he said because he feared Strain would retaliate against his family. Plus, he thought no one would believe him. But now that Strain was out of office, Mark felt okay talking about what the former Sheriff had done to him.

[Jack Strain]

I'm just going to say deception stuff to me. Starting six years old, six to 12, as I remember, just the things that he did to me. That's what I'm going to talk about.

[Terry King]

Mark then burst into tears. He told Terry that between the ages of 6 and 12, Jack Strain had molested him several times a week.

[Jack Strain]

And then he went into graphic detail, detail about the events that occurred. This went on for 45 minutes or an hour. It was really shocking to me because I've never talked to anybody about anything like that.

[Terry King]

Terry later learned that Mark had told the same story to the FBI, but since it was an ongoing criminal investigation, the FBI wasn't able to share anything Mark told them.

[Jed Lipinski]

But Terry was a private citizen. He wasn't bound by the same restrictions.

[Jack Strain]

I always told them, I will be the least confidential of all your confidential informants. I'm going to use the media to get information out there, and we're going to enrage the community. And with the permission of Mark Finn, who was a sex crime victim, he was willing to go on television and talk about this. That right there is sick, what happened to me, you know, And I'm not the only one.

[Jed Lipinski]

That's Mark Finn talking to WWL TV in New Orleans.

[Jack Strain]

I just hope justice is done soon so I can put this behind my life and move forward and it doesn't happen to somebody else.

[Terry King]

The interview landed like a bomb on St. Tammany Parish. Strain denied the allegations. His attorney called Mark Finn a career criminal with zero credibility. But as Mark told wwl, he wasn't Strain's only victim. Soon, other victims began coming forward, alleging that Strain had sexually abused them as well.

[Jack Strain]

There were, I was told, 17 victims that had been identified. Five of them were willing to testify in court.

[Terry King]

In June 2019, a grand jury indicted Strain on a long list of charges, including aggravated rape, sexual battery, and indecent behavior with a juvenile. A few months later, the feds indicted him on multiple counts of corruption related to the work release program. In the end, strain was given four life sentences, plus 30 years for the state charges alone. He later pled guilty to a single corruption charge on the federal level and got another 12 years. The day after Strain's sentencing, Terry considered framing a photo of the front page headline as he'd done with the coroner and the da. But Strain's crimes were so hideous, he didn't want to be reminded of them. He kept the clippings in his desk.

[Jack Strain]

For the concerned citizens. This was the triple crown we took out the coroner, the sheriff, and the District Attorney all in one parish. And according to the FBI, that's never been done before.

[Terry King]

The concerned citizens work continues. In addition to the three officials mentioned in this episode, the group has helped convict or remove from office 29 other individuals, including the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish, the Mayor of Pearl river, and the Chief of police of Bay St. Louis.

[Jack Strain]

And so we took great pride in that. We worked really hard for it. We all took tremendous risk. But in the end, I believe we've changed our community for the better.

[Terry King]

If you have information, story tips or feedback you'd like to share with the Gone south team, please email [e-mail] that's gone south podcastmail.com we're on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram on South Podcast. You can also sign up for our newsletter on sound substack at Gone south with Jed Lipinski Gone south is an Odyssey original podcast. It's created, written and narrated by me, Jed Lipinski. Our executive producers are Jenna Weiss Berman, Maddy Sprung Keyser, Tom Lipinski, Lloyd Lockridge and me. Our story editors are Tom Lipinski, Maddie Sprung Keyser and Joel Lovell. Gone south is edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Basil and Andy Jaskowitz. Production support from Ian Mont and Sean Cherry. Special thanks to J.D. crowley, Leah Rees, Dennis, Maura Curran, Josefina Francis, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Shouf. If you want to hear more of Gone south, please take a few seconds to rate and review the show. It really helps.

[N/A]

I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We are best friends and together we have the podcast Office Ladies where we rewatched every single episode of the Office with insane behind the scenes stories, hilarious guests and lots of laughs. Guess who's sitting next to me? Steve. It is my girl in the studio. Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from the Office and our friendship with brand new guests and we'll be digging into our mailbag to answer your questions and comments. So join us for brand new Office Ladies 6.0 episodes every Wednesday. Plus on Mondays we are taking a second drink. You can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits before every episode. Well, we can't wait to see you there. Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts.