Katie 
Covington, Louisiana: Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain, 58, was found guilty by a jury of all eight charges filed against him in November 2021. The case lasted two weeks and the jury took just five hours to deliberate.
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, Strain was sentenced to life in prison for each of four counts of rape he had been convicted on.
During the trail in November, Warren Montgomery, 22nd Judicial District Attorney stated, "Jack Strain was a very powerful and influential individual and it shows that no one is above the law. The evidence was overwhelming and the evidence was convincing," according to KTAL.
The investigation into Strain started after a federal investigation was launched into allegations of corruption.
While totally unrelated to the sexual abuse investigation, it was the publicity garnered by the federal case that actually led to victims coming forward to report the abuse.
After being convicted at the state level on the sexual abuse charges Strain plead guilty to a single federal count of bribery.
Beginning in approximately 1975 when Strain would have been 12, he was convicted on charges including four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated incest, one count of sexual battery, and one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile, related to five different victims.
WDSU reported that some of the abuse took place while Strain was serving as St. Tammany County Sheriff.
One of Strain's victims, Mark Finn addressed Strain during the sentencing hearing telling him, "look at me, are you sorry? If you're sorry, I'll forgive you. If not, I hope you rot in hell."
Strain said nothing according to KNOE.
Strain's attorneys indicated that they plan to appeal.
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