A Terrytown pastor convicted and later pardoned of sexually abusing a teenage boy 17 years ago has been arrested, again, on similar charges. The Rev. Terry Reed, 54, of 503 Marlin Court, was booked Saturday (Dec. 13) with indecent behavior with a juvenile and sexual battery, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office arrest report.

Reed is accused of abusing a 15-year-old boy whom he had taken in, according to the report. Reed slept naked with the teen and had inappropriate contact with him. The teen told investigators he was also forced to shower with Reed and wash the pastor, the report said.

Sheriff's Office detectives took Reed into custody Saturday at home and questioned him about the teen's allegations. Reed admitted sleeping naked with the victim on several occasions and undressing the boy in his bed, the arrest report said.

Reed is listed as the director and registered agent of Vessels of Christ Ministry, a non-profit religious corporation that operates out of his residence and is in good standing with the Louisiana Secretary of State.

Reed pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile in July 1997. The exact details of that case were not available on Tuesday. But according to Jefferson Parish court records, Reed's plea admitted inappropriate sexual contact with a teenage boy who had been living with him.

Judge Martha Sassone handed down a suspended five-year sentence and ordered Reed to serve five years of probation. Reed had to register as a sex offender and complete a sexual behavior treatment program, court records said.

In the initial sentence order, the judge barred him from any contact with minors, though it appears Reed later tried to appeal that portion of the sentence. Reed was also prohibited from participating in any programs with his church, including counseling.

Reed received an automatic first offender pardon in December 2002 after completing his probation, court records said.

Authorities were called to Reed's Marlin Court home on June 30, 2002, to investigate the bizarre deaths of his adopted son, Christian Reed, 13, and a cousin, Jamichael Spencer, 12. A relative discovered the fully-clothed boys submerged in a hot tub inside the house.

The Jefferson Parish coroner's office determined the boys died of electrocution complicated by elevated body temperatures and blunt force trauma, Chief Death Investigator Mark Bone said. A defective electrical extension cord that powered a nearby radio or television was stapled to the hot tub.

The boys' bodies bore the signs of beatings, including older bruises and fresh welts on their arms, legs and buttocks. An 18-year-old woman who was described as their caretaker admitted whipping the boys as punishment.

Though the coroner's office decided on a cause of death, investigators never made a determination on whether the boys' deaths were accidental or homicides, according to Bone.

The Sheriff's Office closed the investigation into their deaths, but continued to look into the disciplinary beatings the boys received, according to a report published by The Times-Picayune in 2002.

Reed was never a suspect in either investigation, said Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. The department did arrest an unidentified woman in the physical abuse case. It's not clear if it was the woman who had admitted whipping the boys.

The results of any court actions against her could not be determined Tuesday.

Reed was being held without bond Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna.