COVINGTON (WGNO)– Today in the sex abuse trial of former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain more witnesses took the stand including a federal investigator who interviewed all of the alleged abuse victims.
Federal agent Allyson Hoffine testified today saying that she interviewed all of the alleged victims and she saw consistency with anger, irritation, sadness, and confusion when they talked about the alleged abuse by Strain. She went on to say that she tracked down everyone that the alleged victims said they told about the abuse and she was able to confirm that they were told the same stories by the victims. Strain’s defense attorney argued that by the time Hoffine took on the case in 2018 that the victims had already been interviewed multiple times by other FBI investigators, prior to her taking on the case. This was the defense’s effort to prove that the victims had been prepped by the FBI.
Defense attorney’s also pressed her as to why they didn’t look into text messages and the relationships the victims had with Strain more deeply. They continued to argue that Hoffine didn’t do enough to find out whether there was concrete proof as to if the victims were lying or not. Prosecutors argued that her research, documentation, and investigation was thorough.
The trial resumes at the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center. The trial resumes tomorrow morning.
Dr. Scott Anthony Benton was the last one to testify today and he’s an expert in child sexual abuse cases, he testified that he sees common themes to these alleged victims’ testimony and other child sexual abuse cases that he’s worked on over the years.