‘Unlivable conditions’: Deputies find sex offender living with 4 juveniles, 8 other adults during raid on Vidalia house

Published 6:09 pm Friday, March 4, 2022

VIDALIA — On Thursday, Concordia Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at a Vidalia house investigating an alleged relationship between a 57-year-old male and a 15-year-old female. While searching the house, they discovered a total of 13 people, one of them a sex offender, in “unlivable conditions.”

Four of them were juveniles and were “rescued” from the house while the other nine were arrested.

The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Cybercrime Unit began an investigation of the alleged inappropriate relationship on Monday, authorities said. The incident was reported as having occurred at a residence in Vidalia, where another person had been arrested in 2021 on multiple counts of pornography involving juveniles.

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The 15-year-old in question had missed an excessive amount of school and the absences were unexcused.  Arrest warrants were obtained for the child’s parents along with a search warrant for their house in Vidalia.

CPSO’s investigators executed the warrant with the aid of narcotics and CID units.

Gregory E. Martin, 21, of Ferriday, has been arrested and charged with the unlawful presence of a sex predator, three counts of failure to register as a sex offender, four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles.

Multiple types of narcotics were also seized, authorities said.

Authorities arrested Roy L. Box, 19, who has been charged with possession of a schedule I controlled substance, four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles; Sherry McCage, 50, of Vidalia, has been charged with four counts cruelty to juveniles, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and possession of drug paraphernalia; Michael L. Herron, 53, of Vidalia, has been charged with four counts cruelty to juveniles, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, possession of schedule II controlled substances with a fugitive attachment.

Additionally, CPSO has arrested Dudley J. Leblanc, 57; Robert E. Lee, 50; Steven A. Martin, 19; Theodore E. Johnston, 41; Jeremy A. Gossett, 44, and charged them each with four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles.

Further charges relative to sex trafficking of juveniles are expected to follow, authorities said.

This incident remains under investigation and anyone with information should contact Detective Stephen Lipscomb at CPSO or submit an anonymous tip online through the CPSO smartphone app.

Concordia Parish Sheriff David Hedrick stated parents should be mindful of where their kids are at all times and who they are with.