Man opens up about moment his dad shot dead a paedophile

A man has revealed the moment his dad shot dead a paedophile who had kidnapped and abused him – and why he didn’t agree with it.

A man has spoken of the moment his dad shot dead a paedophile who had kidnapped and abused him during a horrifying ordeal.

Gary Plauche gunned down Jeff Doucet live on TV as the fiend was marched through Baton Rouge Airport in front of news cameras, The Sun reports.

Karate teacher Doucet had snatched Plauche’s 11-year-old son Jody before inflicting a horrific campaign of sexual abuse and grooming as he took the boy nearly 3218km from his home in Louisiana to a motel in California in March 1984.

Jody, who has written a book about his ordeal, said that while many Americans hailed his dad as a “hero” for carrying out the revenge killing, he did not agree.

The author said: “At first I was upset with what my father did because at age 11 – I just wanted Jeff to stop and not necessarily dead.”

Gary spent the weekend in jail over the killing – but in the end served no prison time as he was given a suspended sentence for manslaughter along with probation and community service.

The judge ruled that sending him to prison would not help anyone – and that there was no risk in him ever committing another crime – so he was allowed to walk free.

Gary Plauche was waiting for Jeff Doucet as he arrived at the airport in Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Picture: Supplied

Kidnap horror

Doucet was snared by police after he let Jody place a collect call to his mum – sparking a police raid which freed his victim and saw the paedophile shipped back to Baton Rouge (capital of Louisiana).

And as he arrived flanked by police and in front of a local TV news crew, Gary was waiting, hiding his identity under a baseball cap and sunglasses.

With his back to the camera and standing by a bank of pay phones, the furious father was ready to strike.

TV news cameras were rolling as Gary turned around, drew a gun, pulled the trigger and fired a single shot into the side of the Doucet's head at point blank range.

“Why, Gary why?” pleaded one officer as police pinned down the gunman.

It was a harrowing plea that stuck with his son Jody – and became the title of his book on his dad, the shooting and the aftermath.

Jody still remembers the moment he saw the video of his dad gunning down his abuser on a 6pm news bulletin.

“I had already looked at the paper, something I was told not to do. It was almost as if it wasn’t real,” Jody told The Sun.

He even recorded the footage on a VHS tape and would watch it “over and over” – becoming obsessed with it as he attempted to process what happened.

Jody recalls he was first told about what happened by his mum the next morning after the shooting while he was at his grandparents house.

“Last night, Daddy shot Jeff,” his mum told him.

Police pleaded ‘why, Gary, why?’ as they arrested him – but he was never sent to prison. Picture: Supplied

Jody recalls actually feeling upset and bursting into tears at the time – he felt “mad” Gary had killed Doucet.

It is a case which Jody still sees his dad lionised online by wannabe vigilantes who call him a “hero” for killing the paedo.

But for Jody this is not the case.

“I think for a lot of people who have not been satisfied by the American justice system my dad stands as a symbol of justice,” he said.

“My dad did what everybody says what they would do yet only few have done it. Plus, he didn’t go to jail.”

Jody was just 11 years old when he was abused by Doucet. Picture: Supplied

“That said, I cannot and will condone his behaviour. I understand why he did what he did.

“But it is more important for a parent to be there to help support their child than put themselves in a place to be prosecuted.”

The shooting actually put a fracture in Jody and his dad’s relationship, but while Gary regretted the whole episode every occurred, he did not regret shooting Doucet.

And in fact as part of the abuse Doucet had been attempting to drive the pair apart in a twisted act to prove the boy “loved him more” as he was “jealous”, sadly succeeding in doing so even in death.

But eventually things did get back to normal and Gary explained his actions to his son.

“He told me he figured he was gonna die so he felt he had nothing to lose,” Jody said.

“He told me one of them, if not both of them were gonna die that night.”

He went on: “It took a few months before things got back to normal. As far as regret, of course he regrets the whole thing happened but he never regretted his action.

“Being Catholic I believe having taken a human life, his first thoughts were that he was going to hell … and he was okay with that.

“But the local Priest washed his feet and gave his absolution and forgiveness from God so I think that helped him mentally deal with the event.”

Gary with Jody and his brother in happier times. Picture: Supplied

Jody has now written a book on his experiences. Picture: Supplied

Jody explains he is not angry at Doucet, but he now understands the paedophile was a “complete sociopath who lacked feeling or empathy for others and only used people for his own gain”.

Gary always maintained he would kill the man who abused his son again if he had the chance, until his death from a stroke in 2014.

And five years later, Jody released his book Why, Gary, Why?.

He had first started writing about his experiences in 1993, but shelved it until he picked it up again in 2016.

Jody hopes his book can be helpful to victims, survivors and parents who have been subjected to abuse.

He said: “The most important thing is to seek out the proper support. With the proper support you can work through it.

“Unfortunately, most people’s support systems are friends and family … and most of them are terrible at providing the emotional support a sexual abuse victim faces.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Man opens up about moment his dad shot dead a paedophile