Grand jury indicts John Mack on 8 counts

LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (WAFB) - A 75-year-old Livingston Parish man accused of sexually abusing two children under the age of 13 has been indicted by a grand jury on eight different counts.

Livingston Parish court records show John Mack was indicted Wednesday on three counts of first-degree rape, three counts of sexual battery and two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

One of the alleged victims in the case claims she was abused by Mack starting when she was just six years old. She is now a teenager.

An indictment means a grand jury has decided there is enough evidence in the case to warrant it moving to trial.

Mack, who is from Independence, was booked into the Livingston Parish Jail in October 2021 and ordered held without bail.

The case is being handled by Louisiana Attorney General’s Office after District Attorney Scott Perrilloux recused his office due to the “politically sensitive nature of the case.”

Mack is related to a state representative from the area as well as a Livingston parish councilman. However, both of those politicians claim they have not had contact with Mack in more than a decade.

The NAACP got involved in the case last year, accusing law enforcement and government agencies tasked with protecting child abuse victims of dropping the ball in this case.

Baton Rouge NAACP President Eugene Collins said he got involved after the guardian of one of the children told him of the many roadblocks she had encountered in trying to get the case properly investigated. Collins said the case only gained traction after he urged the guardian to report the alleged abuse to the Governor’s Office of Human Trafficking.

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