Survivor: Thailand

John Raymond: four child cruelty convictions, sentenced to two years

A St. Tammany Parish jury convicted John Raymond on 23 September 2024 of one count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles and three counts of cruelty to juveniles, after deliberating under an hour. Judge John Keller sentenced him on 13 March 2025 to two years plus three years of probation. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing.

Court record The verdict and the sentence come from the district attorney's own release and from contemporaneous Louisiana reporting. Raymond denies wrongdoing, he is free on an appeal bond, and no appellate ruling on the merits has been located, so the convictions are entered but not final.

John Raymond John Raymond

What the record shows

  • Court record A St. Tammany Parish jury convicted Raymond on 23 September 2024 of one count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles and three counts of cruelty to juveniles. It deliberated for less than an hour.
  • Court record The convictions rest on taping students' mouths shut at Lakeside Christian School in Slidell, Louisiana, and in one instance covering the mouth of a four-year-old.
  • Court record Judge John Keller sentenced him on 13 March 2025 to five years with three suspended, which leaves two years to serve followed by three years of probation.
  • Confirmed Raymond denies wrongdoing and is appealing. He remains free on a $100,000 appeal bond, and nothing located establishes that he has entered custody.
  • Confirmed The Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit denied a supervisory writ and a stay on 10 March 2025. That order refused the request in front of it and did not rule on whether the convictions stand.
  • Unverified No decision on the merits of the appeal has been located through 26 July 2026. The complete St. Tammany trial docket and any later appellate mandate could not be opened, so the current posture of the case is not established.
  • Unverified No CBS or production statement, sanction or ban relating to Raymond has been located. His absence from later seasons is not evidence that one exists.

What the jury decided

On 23 September 2024 a jury in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana convicted John Raymond on four counts: one count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles and three counts of cruelty to juveniles. The jury deliberated for less than an hour. The office of District Attorney Collin Sims announced the verdict, and NOLA.com reported it the same day.

Raymond played Survivor: Thailand in 2002 and later ran Lakeside Christian School in Slidell. The conduct behind the counts was taping students' mouths shut, and in one instance covering the mouth of a four-year-old. He has denied wrongdoing throughout, and he is appealing.

Two years to serve, out of a five-year sentence

Judge John Keller sentenced Raymond on 13 March 2025. The structure of the sentence is what most summaries drop: five years, with three of them suspended. That leaves two years to serve, followed by three years of probation. FOX 8 in New Orleans reported the two-year term and the probation on the day it was imposed.

Two years is the number in the headlines. Five years is the number in the judgment. Both are accurate only when the suspension is stated with them, and a page that carries one figure without the other has described a sentence the court did not impose.

He is not in prison, and the appeal is not decided

Raymond remains free on a $100,000 appeal bond. Reporting on the day of sentencing said he could stay out of custody while the appeal proceeded, and nothing located since shows that he began serving the term. This page does not say he is incarcerated, because no verified source says he is.

Three days before sentencing, on 10 March 2025, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit denied a supervisory writ and a stay. That order turned down the request in front of it. It is not a ruling that the convictions were correct, and it should not be read as one. Through 26 July 2026 no decision on the merits of the appeal has been found, and the full trial docket could not be opened. The convictions are entered. They are not final.

Which season he actually played

Raymond played Survivor: Thailand, the fifth season, which aired in 2002. He was on Chuay Gahn and was the first castaway voted out, on day three, by a 6-1-1 vote. He has never played again.

Write-ups that place him on Survivor: Africa have the wrong season, and in most cases the wrong person. No other criminal matter involving Raymond was located in this research, so claims that attach a second case to his name should be treated as unsupported until someone produces the record.

What Survivor has and has not said

No CBS statement, sanction or ban relating to Raymond has been located. He has not appeared on the show since 2002, but he was the first person voted out of his only season, which is the ordinary reason a castaway is never invited back. Reading a ban into that silence asserts something nobody has shown.

The students in the case are minors. They are not named here, the reporting left them unnamed, and this site does not attempt to identify them.

People in this story

Questions people ask

Was John Raymond from Survivor convicted?
Yes. A St. Tammany Parish jury convicted him on 23 September 2024 of one count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles and three counts of cruelty to juveniles. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing, so the convictions are not final.
What was John Raymond convicted of doing?
Taping students' mouths shut at Lakeside Christian School in Slidell, Louisiana, and in one instance covering the mouth of a four-year-old. The district attorney's office announced the four-count verdict in September 2024.
What sentence did John Raymond receive?
On 13 March 2025 Judge John Keller imposed five years with three suspended, which is two years to serve followed by three years of probation. FOX 8 reported the two-year term and the probation that day.
Is John Raymond in prison?
No verified source says he is. He remains free on a $100,000 appeal bond while the appeal proceeds, and no record showing that he entered custody has been located.
What is the status of his appeal?
Not established. The First Circuit denied a supervisory writ and a stay on 10 March 2025, but that was not a ruling on the convictions, and no decision on the merits has been located through July 2026.
What season of Survivor was John Raymond on?
Survivor: Thailand, the fifth season, in 2002. He played on Chuay Gahn and was the first castaway voted out, on day three. Sources that place him on Survivor: Africa are wrong.

Sources

Checked on 2026-07-26. If something here is wrong or out of date, we want to know: get in touch.