Thanks a lot, government!
A child molester and former teacher at Norco’s Sacred Heart Elementary School was mistakenly released from prison last month, more than seven years too early, though he was put back behind bars Wednesday after his victims and WWL-TV began asking questions.
Meanwhile, before receiving word that Brian David Matherne had been imprisoned again, a WWL-TV reporter and photographer went to his address in Tangipahoa Parish seeking comment Thursday morning and were attacked by his brother-in-law, who was arrested.
The Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office booked Bruce Verdin with three counts of aggravated battery and a count of aggravated destruction of property after he wielded a wrench and tried to hit the photographer with his truck.
Matherne, 66, who coached several boys’ sports at Sacred Heart and taught various subjects at the school for 22 years, was charged with 300 child sex abuse counts in August 1999. In February 2000, he pleaded guilty in St. Charles Parish to molesting 17 boys during a 15-year period that ended in 1999. Judge Robert Chaisson then sentenced Matherne to 29 years, 11 months and 29 days at hard labor.
The fact that the sentence was exactly one day less than 30 years was critical. A sentence of 30 years or more would have meant Matherne was eligible for parole after 20 years or to be released early for exemplary behavior, or “good time.”
But last month, one victim and his family learned that Matherne had been released from Rayburn Correctional Center in Washington Parish – 7 ½ years too early. The victim, Chad Becnel, called elected officials and the state Department of Corrections to alert them to the error. On Monday, WWL-TV asked the same questions of officials.
St. Charles District Attorney Joel Chaisson, who was not in office when Matherne was sentenced, said he pulled the transcripts from Matherne’s sentencing hearing. Chaisson confirmed the judge, his brother, made clear from the bench that Matherne’s sentence involved “hard labor … without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence … and without being eligible for good time.”
Chaisson’s predecessor as St. Charles DA, Harry Morel, told the media on the day of the sentencing, Feb. 22, 2000, that the plea deal was meant to spare young victims the ordeal of a public trial.
Photo: Mugshot