Sex offender NIG king busied

A dream came true for Glynn “Tattoo” Matherne when luck of the draw made him king of a Houma Carnival krewe, who had tears in his eyes when he learned the news.

But Matherne’s dream has morphed into a nightmare for him, raised a dilemma for Houma’s Krewe of Mardi Gras, and could have effects on other clubs as well.

Matherne has been a registered sex offender since 2003, in connection with a guilty plea to the charge of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. The oilfield quality assurance technician said he was told last week by a detective that if he rode as king, he would be arrested, a threat legal experts say rings hollow, as no law outright prohibits him from doing so.

But Louisiana does prohibit sex offenders from wearing masks during Carnival events, and from giving gifts including candy to children. So Monday, based on the evidence that Matherne rode on a krewe float last year and on prior occasions, Terrebonne Parish deputies arrested him on the misdemeanor charge. He was released on a $500 bond. The charge carries a sentence of six months to three years upon conviction.

“We got a call from a concerned citizen that saw his picture in the newspaper as the king, who knew he was a convicted sex offender,” Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. “I don’t think anybody in the krewe would want anybody to ride that is not allowed. I do not believe that they had knowledge about this individual.”

A parish ordinance requires that riders on floats – except for royalty – be masked, although many do remove them for comfort’s sake at points in their rides.

“If he rode, he is supposed to be covered up,” Larpenter said. “We are going to look at all of it and see what is going on. He knows up front as a sex offender what he can or can’t do.”

In addition to riding on the krewe’s floats, Matherne is also a member of the Selucrey Sophisticats second-line club, whose members take part in most local parades.

Matherne said he was never told by anyone that his status as a sex offender could keep him from riding a float.

KREWE CONSIDERATIONS

Krewe officials have not told Matherne that his royal ride, which involves neither mask nor the throwing of trinkets or other “gifts,” is off.

Krewe president Marlene Jewell deferred comment until she could discuss it with the organization’s governing board, but stated that she was not personally aware of Matherne’s legal status.

“It is new to us too and until it gets discussed amongst board members I can’t really say anything,” said Jewell, whose krewe has neither come to Matherne’s defense nor taken action against him.

“The krewe is exploring its available options,” said attorney Jerri Smitko, who represents the club and is looking further into issues that could affect the organization.

Matherne is still considering whether he will ride in Saturday’s parade but is fairly certain he will not.

“For now I am done with it all, with the parades,” Matherne said after his release, averring that he did not know he was breaking the law. “I am thinking I will give the sheriff and the district attorney peace of mind and leave it alone. I am afraid they are going to find a way to lock me up again. My wife and kids are broken up about this.”

Matherne’s wife, Casey, is this year’s queen and their two sons are pages. Now the krewe may be queenless. Casey Matherne is considering laying her own crown aside to show solidarity with her husband.

Critics maintain that Matherne’s seeking of the king’s crown – and acceptance of it – makes him a royal usurper. They say he has claimed a community’s honor when due instead suspicion and monitoring, particularly with children afoot at krewe functions, and parents not necessarily aware of his status.

KREWES ASKED TO CHECK MEMBERS

Larpenter has instructed Carnival krewes during safety meetings to take the lead in checking their ranks. Interviews over the past week with leaders of clubs, however, indicate that vetting of members and royalty is passive at best.

Detailed checks by The Times with the Louisiana Attorney General’s office, the Louisiana State Police and other agencies reveal that there is no law specifically barring sex offenders from taking part in most Carnival activities, including parades. Parish ordinances make no reference to vetting of members or rules regarding sex offenders and krewes, other than the masking and gift giving bans.

Matherne is one of two krewe members whose names were tossed into a hat, with one being drawn to serve as king.

Some Carnival clubs, like the Krewe of Mardi Gras, select kings by lot or draw. Other krewes choose kings on the basis of special achievements, celebrity or community status.

The status leading to a crown, Carnival aficionados acknowledge, is not that of a registered sex offender.

“Being chosen as a king is an honor, however chosen, it is the highest honor,” said Arthur Hardy of New Orleans television station WDSU, a nationally recognized Mardi Gras expert, who has never during his career come across a club or royalty facing the same predicament.

Parade-goers interviewed last week said they understand how a person can be a model citizen after one incident involving a crime, even a sex offender. But such a person acting as a Carnival king presents concerns.

“The king has to be a pillar of the community,” said former snack shop owner Mona Jackson, who belongs to no krewe but attends as many parades as she can with her young twin boys. Asked how she would react if she knew the king at a parade she was viewing shared Matherne’s status, Jackson gave a quick answer. “I would be concerned because they do have little children that are out there. It is demeaning to the parade, period. As long as they were on the list I would be concerned. And a lot of krewe members have children that take part in functions.”

BARGAINED PLEA

Matherne’s journey from criminal defendant to father, husband and well-thought of community member, culminating in this year’s crown controversy, began in 2002, when the mother of a 13-year-old Houma girl found a disturbing diary entry and notified Houma police.

Matherne was 23-years-old, he said, when a buddy named Nicholas Romero showed up at his apartment on Cadiere Street with the girl in tow, and a party ensued. He denies having relations with the girl, whom authorities later said had a developmental disability, though he believes Romero did. Pressed as to whether Romero had relations with the girl without his own knowledge, Matherne said he is not certain.

“We were all drinking that night,” he said.

On Sept. 20, 2002, both Matherne and Romero were booked at the Terrebonne Parish jail for aggravated rape.

Assistant District Attorney Juan Pickett, now a district court judge, handled Matherne’s case when a bond reduction hearing was held on Jan. 16, 2003.

At the hearing Pickett agreed to allow a reduced charge of carnal knowledge, and Matherne pleaded guilty, court records show.

Held on a high bond for the aggravated rape charge, Matherne said, he saw no option but to plead despite his claim of innocence, to avoid further incarceration. No fine was imposed, no prison time ordered and no special conditions were attached to his release, other than compliance with the laws regarding registration for sex offenders.

Romero pleaded guilty as well and was shipped off to South Dakota, which had issued a fugitive warrant for him. Romero remained incarcerated in the South Dakota prison system until 2007, according to that state’s available records. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The victim and her mother are believed to have left Louisiana years ago.

At the time of Matherne’s conviction state law said registration for a “Tier 1” offender – someone convicted of the less serious sexual offenses – was mandated for 10 years. Matherne would not be on the sex offender list today, but for a 2006 change in the law, mandating that Tier 1 offenders be registered for a period of 15 years. The change was retroactive, meaning it applied to people convicted prior to that time.

“I TRUST HIM”

Available records indicate that Matherne generally complied with the directives, which include mandatory reporting of address change, place of work and other information, along with appearance on a public Internet database that includes his personal information.

A compliance issue, according to Matherne, arose when he coached his children’s parish recreation football team. But when he was informed that he could be in violation, he halted the coaching.

“I have done everything they asked me to do,” Matherne said.

He joined the Krewe of Mardi Gras about 10 years ago, an organization that includes friends and relatives, actively participating in the group’s activities.

A Krewe of Mardi Gras member, Jeremy Guidry, supports Matherne and says he should ride as king, branding the controversy “a lotofBS.”

A restaurant counterman, Guidry has known Matherne for six years or more and plans to have him as a member of his wedding party in April. Guidry’s daughter is one of the king’s pages this year.

“He is a typical down-to-earth common Southern guy, who likes to have fun and wouldn’t harm anybody,” said Guidry, a float supervisor for the krewe. “He’s a character, not a person who is shy and he will talk to anybody.”

As a king riding on a float, Matherne is not a threat to anyone, Guidry said.

“Anybody that knows him personally would not cast judgment. If he can be at a parade why can’t he ride in a parade?” said Guidry, opining that parade-goers, in far less public view than a krewe’s royalty, pose a greater practical threat.

Matherne has given rides to Guidry’s 10-year-old daughter when he’s been in a scheduling pinch, just as Guidry and his wife have cared for the royal couple’s children when the need has arisen.

“I trust him and they trust us with their kids,” said Guidry, who learned of Matherne’s sex offender status only after an issue was raised about his membership in the Selucrey club, a year or two ago.

Matherne provided details about his conviction and the circumstances leading up to it; Guidry was satisfied with the explanation.

“It was something 10 years before,” Guidry said.

CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE

Robert DeHart, a board member of the Selucrey Sophisticats and a former president of the second-line group, counts himself as a Matherne fan.

“When I found out, he gave me the same story he gave everybody; he didn’t try to hide it. He said this thing happened with this girl, that he just happened to be there,” DeHart said. “He is outgoing, fun to be with and dedicated to his kids. His kids are the center of his world.”

Matherne is not strutting down Main Street with the Sophisticats this year because of his duties as Mardi Gras’ king. But DeHart said he has no qualms about future involvement.

Asked about the ban on sex offenders giving gifts, DeHart said there is nothing to keep Matherne from cavorting with the Sophisticats by merely dancing, and not handing out roses, beads or other trinkets.

An arrest for merely riding as king on a float would likely not be valid, said Marjorie Esman, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, in the absence of any law barring that activity.

“The purpose of these laws is to protect people from someone who might do harm,” Esman said. “How is he going to hurt anybody? He is on a float. He is not leaving the float. He is in front of a huge crowd. The statutes do not apply to that type of behavior. If he is not giving anything to the children, if he is not throwing anything, then he is not violating the law. They can’t arrest him if he is not violating the law, and any arrest would be an invalid arrest, if the facts are as suggested.”

Matherne’s right to free expression under the U.S Constitution’s First Amendment and due process under the Fifth Amendment could be violated if he were arrested for merely riding his king’s float, Esman said.

“Laws have to be clear and nobody can be validly arrested or charged for violating a law that is vague,” she said. “If there is no law that expressly prohibits masking while clearly identified as a king, with your name public and in a way that cannot hurt anyone, then no arrest could be made for doing that. And the First Amendment places a heavy burden on the government to prove that they have a compelling interest and no less restrictive alternative before banning expressive activity.”

COLD SHOULDERS

Matherne has made inquiries as to whether he can toast his queen at the reviewing stand, but not yet received an answer to that question.

As word of the problem filters through the krewe, its initially popular king is meeting with increasingly cold shoulders.

“Now the club is looking at me all different with this,” Matherne said. “I can see that they are like the rest, very judgmental on someone’s charge instead of believing in someone to change in life.”

Matherne complains that he has spent more than $8,000 on trinkets, gifts, a costume and events like a Twelfth Night party, and resents that his status is making that a flushed investment.

“There is no way I will be able to get that money back; that money is lost,” said Matherne, who believes he is being singled out for persecution. “That money is lost.”

Matherne said the thought that anyone might look askance at his elevation to king never occurred, or the potential that it could cause embarrassment to the organization.

Matherne’s critics – who did not wish to be identified because they don’t wish to create further rifts within the krewe – said he should have thought about the potential for trouble before putting his name in the hat. A don’t ask, don’t tell policy, one said, is luxury sex offenders cannot be afforded.

Matherne counters that he meant no harm and did not intentionally deceive anyone.

He presented a photocopy of his driver’s license, along with that of his wife, when the krewe made requests from the members a few years ago. Larpenter says Matherne purposely obscured the “sex offender” legend on the license that the law requires. Matherne said its absence on the photocopy was not something that occurred with intent.

As Saturday’s parade gets closer, Matherne remains torn, especially after Monday’s arrest.

“I am married for 10 years, been with my wife for 13 years,” he said. “I have only three years to go on the list. Every year it gets closer and closer to me being done with it. I am not about to do something that will make me lose my job or go to jail over this.”

Glynn Matherne (at left) holds his robe and crown as he and his wife Casey discuss conflicts between his status as king of the Krewe of Mardi Gras and that of registered sex offender, in their East Houma living room Sunday.

JAMES LOISELLE | THE TIMES

Glynn “Tattoo” Matherne is pictured in his king’s garb, his sheriff’s office mugshot and his photo on the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office Offender Watch site.

COURTESY, IPSO, SEX CRIME REGISTRY

Glynn Matherne, his wife Casey and other members of the Krewe of Mardi Gras’ 2015 Royal Court are pictured in this Facebook photo. Matherne told The Times after his release from jail Monday that he does not intend to ride in Saturday’s parade.

FACEBOOKI KREWE OF MARDI GRAS