Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain has plead not guilty during an arraignment on eight charges of sex crimes reportedly committed between 1978 and 2004.
Four of those charges claim Strain committed aggrevated rape of a minor when he was 17-years of age between 1978 and 1981. Since there is no statute of limitations on aggrevated rape, Strain could face life in prison if convicted.
After the arraignment Strain left in the company of his lawyer, who defended his client and proclaimed his innocense as the two were leaving the courthouse.
Previous Story:
He was Sheriff of St. Tammany Parish for 20-years. Today he will be arraigned on eight sex crime charges. Four of those charges date from when he was 17-years of age.
Jack Strain will appear in court in Covington to hear the crimes he is alleged to have committed over a 44 year period dating from 1975 through 2004--when he was serving as Sheriff.
In June, the Louisiana State Police arrested Strain on six counts of sexually related crimes, a pair of counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated incest, one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile and a count of sexual battery, after he was initially indicted by a grand jury. Later, the grand jury split one of the aggrevated rape counts into three separate counts bringing the total to eight.
All of Strain's victims are said to have been under the age of 18 at the time the alleged crimes were committed. Two of the victims were listed as being under the 12. According to Louisiana law, there is no statute of limitation on aggrevated rape.
If found guilty of the charges, the former top law enforcement officer law enforcement would receive an automatic life sentence.
