Child molestation charges added to some arrested during raid of a Vidalia house

Published 8:06 am Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VIDALIA — Additional charges have been added to four people who were arrested during a raid of a Vidalia home earlier this month.

According to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office, Vidalia residents Jeremy A. Gossett, 44, and Robert E. Lee, 50, have both been charged with three counts of molestation of juveniles and Dudley J. Leblanc Jr., 57, and Sherry McCage, 50, have both been charged with three counts of principal to molestation of a juvenile. All of them were living at 105 South Magnolia St.

McCage

Leblanc

Lee

Gossett

On February 28, the CPSO Cybercrime Unit began investigating alleged inappropriate activities occurring between juveniles and adults, including an alleged relationship between a 57-year-old male and a 15-year-old female.

Email newsletter signup

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.

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.

A search warrant of the Vidalia house was obtained and executed by CPSO on March 3, 2022, and officers reportedly found 13 people, one of them a sex offender, in “unlivable conditions.”

Four juveniles were “rescued” from the house while the nine adults there were arrested and drugs and drug paraphernalia were seized.

The adults charged on March 3 include Gregory E. Martin, 21, who was 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; Roy L. Box, 19, who was 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; Michael L. Herron, 53, who was 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; and Steven A. Martin, 19, who was charged with four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and Theodore E. Johnston, 41, who has also been charged with four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles.

The sheriff’s department originally charged Leblanc, Lee and Gossett each with four counts of cruelty to juveniles and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and McCage with four counts cruelty to juveniles, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As the investigation progressed, CPSO states evidence was obtained which led to the additional molestation charges against four adults initially arrested at the location.

This incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information should contact Detective Stephen Lipscomb at CPSO or can submit an anonymous tip online or using CPSO’s tips app.