Terry Reed, found guilty of rape and molestation of a juvenile, called ‘utter failure of a man’ by victim’s mother

A suburban New Orleans religious pastor has been sentenced to 80 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of sexually molesting two boys – the third time in which he was found guilty of abusing minors.

While Terry Reed received his punishment at a state court hearing on Thursday, the mother of one of his survivors read a victim-impact statement on behalf of her son which called him “an utter failure and a sorry excuse for a man”.

‘Lookback law’ allowed Pamela Lockridge to seek damages against late stepfather who abused her starting at age four

A north-west Louisiana jury recently awarded a staggering $1.1bn in damages to a woman who sued over childhood sexual molestation at the hands of her late stepfather in the 1960s and 1970s – a verdict that the plaintiff says “sends a message that children are precious” and “deserve protection”.

The outcome in Pamela Elaine Lockridge’s lawsuit caused waves among Louisiana’s legal community, illustrating how much civil juries are willing to award to plaintiffs for cases tried under the state’s so-called “lookback law”.

Jordan Matthew, who has no lifeguard training, rescued a young boy and two women from the dangerous current

A shuttle driver recently used his bare hands to rescue three tourists ensnared by a potentially deadly rip current off the southern Louisiana coast, actions which state officials hailed as “heroic”.

In an interview published on 15 June, Reliant Shuttle driver Jordan Matthew told Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana that he had just dropped off a group of tourists from Oklahoma at a beach on Grand Isle days earlier when one of them frantically flagged him down.