Louisiana Pastor Terry Reed Gets 80 Years for Molesting 2 Boys

Q: Will police now reopen the cold case of two boys who died mysteriously at the convicted pastor's home?

There is no public indication, based on the reporting provided, that police have reopened the 2002 deaths of the two boys at Terry Reed’s home. What is known is that the case remains a troubling unresolved episode in Reed’s history. The boys, Christian Reed, 13, and Jamichael Spencer, 12, died by electrocution in a hot tub at his Terrytown home. Investigators at the time found both blunt-force trauma and a defective electrical cord, but authorities were unable to classify the deaths, and Reed was not implicated. Reed’s new 80-year sentence for sexually abusing two boys could increase pressure for a fresh review, especially because this is now his third conviction involving minors and prosecutors described a long-running pattern of grooming vulnerable boys in his home. That pattern may prompt renewed public scrutiny of whether earlier incidents around Reed deserve another look. But scrutiny is not the same as a reopened case. None of the material provided says the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, state police, or prosecutors have announced a new investigation into the 2002 deaths. If authorities do revisit it, the likely path would be a cold-case review rather than an automatic reopening triggered by the new conviction. As seen in other Louisiana cold cases, investigators typically need a formal decision to reexamine evidence, reinterview witnesses, and apply newer forensic methods. For now, there is no confirmed reopening.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 20

Jefferson Parish Judge Ray Steib sentenced Terry Reed to 80 years after jurors convicted him on May 6 of two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of molestation of a juvenile.
Prosecutors said Reed abused two boys after gaining their guardians’ trust, bringing them into his Terrytown home and using biblical scripture in his role as pastor to normalize the abuse.
The sentence followed Reed’s third conviction involving minors; he had already pleaded guilty in 1997 to indecent behavior with a juvenile and in 2017 to indecent behavior and molestation of a juvenile.
At Thursday’s hearing, one survivor’s mother described feeling profoundly betrayed after asking Reed to help her troubled son, while a statement read for the victim called him “an utter failure” and said, “It is done. It is over.”
The case adds to a long-running clergy abuse problem around New Orleans, where multiple religious leaders across denominations have been convicted in recent years.