Jeffrey Paul "Jeff" Doucet was a pedophilic abductor who, in early 1984, abducted Jody Plauché, a ten-year-old boy he had been sexually molesting. Shortly after his arrest, and before he could face trial, he was gunned down by Jody's father, Gary, on March 16, 1984.
Not much is known about Doucet's personal history, other than he was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1959, and that he was, by his own admission, sexually molested as a child. Eventually, he began molesting children himself, to the point that he could not remember the exact number of boys he victimized. He once had a sexual molestation charge, although it was erased from the records. At some point in his life, he relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he became a karate instructor. He was a twenty-four-year-old when he first met pupil Jody Plauché, in early 1983. At the time, he was living inside the karate school where he coached and had no close friends or relationships to talk about. Doucet was loved by his pupils, especially when he took them to the movies or skating. To Jody and his brother, Mikey, children of divorced parents, Doucet became something of an authoritative father-like figure. He was also well-liked by Jody and Mikey's parents, June and Gary Plauché, the latter of which once invited him to a family dinner. From then on, Jeff began spending more and more time with Jody and the Plauchés.
Doucet was a preferential child molester of the so-called "seduction" type. Such offenders court their victims with gifts and/or attention, slowly winning their trust and lowering their inhibitions. They exploit the authority deriving from their professions and status as adults and are very good at communicating with children, as well as at choosing victims who will be most susceptible to their ploys (e.g. children who receive little affection at home).
Doucet admitted he could not remember the exact number of young boys he molested during the course of his life.
In March 1983, Jeff began fondling Jody inappropriately as well as sleeping with him during karate trips. He later escalated to rape, after which, according to Jody, he would sexually assault him almost every day, sometimes twice a day, in the following months.
On February 19, 1984, Jeff, who at the time was about to go to trial for passing bad checks, abducted Jody from his house under the pretext of running an errand. He brought him to California passing through Port Arthur (where he stopped at his mother's house), New Mexico, and Arizona. All the while, he purported him to be his son. They finally reached Anaheim, where they rented a hotel room and went to Disneyland. During his time in captivity, Jody, although permitted to call his mother sometimes, was further assaulted by Doucet, whose mental balance seemed to begin to crumble.
Eventually, on February 29, the FBI managed to trace Doucet after he called Jody's mother on the phone. The kid was immediately returned to his parents, while Doucet was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping. On March 16, he was extradited back to Louisiana, where Gary Plauché was waiting for him at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, armed with a .38 caliber revolver. The latter shot him point-blank in the head, and was immediately handcuffed by onlooking police officers. Doucet died a day later.
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Charged with second-degree murder, Gary, who was stated to have suffered a mental breakdown after discovering his son had been repeatedly raped, pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge, and was controversially given a seven-year suspended sentence, along with five years on probation and 300 hours of community service. The lenient treatment Gary received divided public opinion, and was criticized, among others, by Doucet's brother, Roland. Gary completed his sentence in 1989, suffered a stroke in 2011, and eventually died in 2014.
Jody Plauché, on his part, was able to recover from this traumatic experience and pursue a brilliant career in school and sports. He wrote a book about his experience and is currently an abuse victims' advocate.
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