Well it seems that Louisiana has made national headlines once again. Naturally, it was for all the wrong reasons.
This time members of a Ponchatoula church have come under suspicion for child molestation and performing sexual acts on animals. Yes, you did read correctly, children and animals.
I would really like to close my eyes to all the alleged details of adults sex antics with animals and children considering the fact that the Michael Jackson trial just ended, and I’d much rather read about anything else.
Still, I wonder, how could this happen?
These particular individuals were supposedly “God fearing” people right? Last month, events played out in a way that almost no one in this southeastern Louisiana town of 5,000 could have imagined: Nine people, including the pastor, his wife and a sheriff’s deputy stand accused of engaging in cult-like sexual activity with children and animals inside the hall of worship.
Eight now face child rape charges that could bring the death penalty.
This church is located in Ponchatoula. For those of you that are not familiar with the area, it’s about forty-five minutes away from Baton Rouge and is located in Tangipahoa Parish.
I know many people are surprised by this news, especially in such a small town as Ponchatoula, whose notoriety had only extended to its having produced American Idol contestant Lindsey Cardinale
After the scandals of the last decade in the Catholic Church, abuse of children by church officials is nothing new to the nation.
But crimes like this leave many with the question, if you can not trust a pastor or ordained minister then who can you trust?
This particular case hits closer to home for people that grew up near this area of Louisiana.
As for me, I attended school in the church building as a child. I grew up in Hammond, La. about ten minutes from the Hosanna Church once upon a time also known as Hosanna Christian Academy.
When I am at home I frequently pass by the church. I always look to see what has changed or just to read the billboard in front of the church.
The fact that the windows had been painted white making it impossible to see inside the church and even though the billboard always had a crazy phrase on it from time to time; it still never crossed my mind to what allegedly immoral actions were actually taking place inside the church.
Many of my friends as well as myself could not believe that people we actually knew were accused of being involved in this horrific and demeaning crime.
Honestly, when I went to the school one of the many suspects, was the principal. This speaks volumes for the old slogan things are not always what they seem but neither are people, because to me they were honestly good citizens.
The alleged victims, suspected to number up to two dozen, include children ranging from infants to young teens — some of them the offspring of those accused.
At one time, Hosanna Church was one of the many thriving churches, of all denominations, in and around Ponchatoula, a town of antique shops that is the host of Louisiana’s annual strawberry festival.
Now, a message on the church’s highway sums up my feelings for the church and the individuals that my parents as well as others trusted.
The sign reads: “I went here K-4. You let us down.”