A former Grand Isle town council member, ex-police officer, and ex-Port Commission member, Elgene Gary Sr., has been found guilty on three counts of sexual battery involving two juvenile victims on the barrier island, as reported by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office. The conviction came late Thursday night, after the jury heard the testimonies from the victims and another woman who claimed Gary abused her in Michigan over three decades ago.
The victims described prolonged abuse, with one of them recounting assaults that began when she was 7 years old and continued until she was 15. This insight into the case emerged after she felt compelled to flee Grand Isle following the devastation of Hurricane Ida in 2021. She later reported the abuse to the Louisiana State Police in Baton Rouge. The agency's Special Victims Unit took over the investigation in October of that year. According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office, the victim detailed the manipulative tactics used by Gary, including telling her to "be quiet" and asserting, "this is our secret."
The subsequent investigation by the State Police unearthed another victim, now 40 years old, who disclosed an incident where Gary molested her once between the ages of 7 and 10, this incident was cut short when her brother interrupted Gary's actions, her testimony along with that of another witness from a past incident in Michigan served to underline the pattern of Gary’s predatory behavior. According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office, Assistant District Attorney Brooke Harris emphasized to the jurors that the victims "deserved to be believed, and they deserve justice."
However, despite the allegations and evidence presented, Gary maintained his innocence. His legal defense pointed to alleged inconsistencies in the testimonies of the state’s witnesses and criticized what they deemed an incomplete investigation by detectives. Assistant District Attorney Erich Cathey countered the defense’s argument by telling jurors that the victims “were consistent each and every time on what this man, Elgene Gary Sr., did to both of them,” Statements from both the prosecution and the defense were part of intense deliberations that lasted just over five hours before the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts, according to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office.
The chapter of Gary’s transgressions has been brought to a close with this conviction, and he is scheduled to face sentencing on June 16 by Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court.
