What began as a federal investigation into a work-release program ended Monday with his conviction on all six counts of rape, incest and indecent behavior with a juvenile
A St. Tammany Parish jury of six men and six women returned the verdict Monday following a nine-day trial at which Strain called no witnesses in his defense. Prosecutors, however, called more than two dozen witnesses, including five men who testified that they had been sexually abused by Strain, beginning – when they were about 10 years old and Strain was 16 – in the late 1970s and continuing for a quarter-century.
Four counts were for aggravated rape which carries a mandatory life sentence and two counts were for aggravated incest because the assaults involved two juveniles to who Strain was related.
Ironically, one of the victims, Skip Keen, would go on to become a captain in Strain’s sheriff’s department and would end up pleading guilty to federal corruption charges. Strain lost his reelection bid in 2015 and was arrested for the sexual offenses on June 11, 2019 after at least four persons came forward to claim they were molested by Strain, one of whom said he was raped as late as June 2004. Strain, 56, was first elected sheriff in 1995, serving until his defeat by current Sheriff Randy Smith.
The federal investigation that precipitated his arrest by state authorities stemmed from Strain’s privatization of the parish jail, which he turned over to two of his friends. Those two, Skip Keen and David Hanson, subsequently pleaded guilted in February 2019 to conspiracy to solicit bribes and to commit wire fraud.
Details of the jail privatization scheme as well as reports of Strain’s June 2019 indictment are included in my book, Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption, available by clicking on the Cavalier House Book Store icon to the right of this post.
Louisiana Voice 
Horrible episode. Zero tolerance of this type crime and especially as an officer of the law. Taxpayers should not have to feed this person for the next several decades.
Put him in gen pop (general population) when he gets to prison and watch how fast he becomes a “dead man walking”. Cons as a rule don’t care much for child molesters…..
Nor a corrupt, former sheriff. He’s probably going to be placed in protective custody. He definitely will not survive in the gen pop.
He is one of the very few sheriffs around whom his fellows were unwilling to circle the wagons. However, his position of power clearly allowed him to continue longer than should have been possible.