Louisiana Voice

In keeping with our policy of chronicling the arrests of those so-called Christians who use their positions to abuse children for the satisfaction of their sick sexual urges even as evangelicals accuse others such as gays and drag queens of grooming children, LouisianaVoice is reporting that a former member of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s church in Benton has been arrested on 90 counts of child molestation, dating back nearly 40 years.

David Mercer, 72, of Folsom in St. Tammany Parish, WAS ARRESTED by Bossier Parish sheriff’s deputies, with assistance from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, following an investigation of four child victims between 1989 and 1995 while he was serving as youth minister at Cypress Baptist Church of Benton. He resigned in 1995.

CYPRESS BAPTIST CHURCH OF BENTON is the home church of U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, the U.S. House Speaker.

Mercer was employed as a youth pastor at a local Folsom church at the time of his arrest.

He is just the latest in a string of literally hundreds of Protestant ministers and Catholic priests who have been arrested over the years for child sexual molestation, many of whom are identified by name in my book, The Dinosaur Club, which also names judges, cops, politicians and celebrities who have been identified as child sexual predators.

In Mercer’s case, he was returned to Bossier Parish where he was taken to the parish’s maximum security facility bond was set at $2.5 million.

Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington said the investigation in ongoing and additional charges and victims are expected.

“Although nearly 40 years have passed, the passage of time does not lessen the seriousness of these crimes or the impact they have had on those affected,” Whittington said. “I want to encourage anyone who may have been a victim or witnessed these actions to come forward and contact the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office. We are committed to thoroughly investigating these allegations and seeking justice for those who may have been impacted.”