Jeff Doucet

Disambiguation: This page is about the criminal. For the actor, see Jeff Doucette.

REAL CRIMINAL
Name	Jeffrey Paul Doucet
Alias	Jeff
Gender	Male
Birth Date	February 3, 1959
Place of Birth	Port Arthur, Texas
Date of Death	March 17, 1984 (age 25)
Place of Death	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Occupation	Karate instructor
Pathology	Abductor Pedophile
Type	Seduction-type
No. of Victims	1+ molested
Span of crimes	March 1983 - February 29, 1984
Criminal Charges	Aggravated kidnapping (never faced trial)
Apprehended	February 29, 1984
Status	Deceased (shot by victim's father)

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 shot and killed by Jody's father, Gary, in March of the same year.

Background and Abduction

Ten-year-old Jody Plauché with Doucet (right).

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 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.

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 on captivity, Jody, although permitted to call his mother sometimes, was furtherly assaulted by Doucet, whose mental balance seemed to begin to crumble.

Arrest, Death, and Aftermath

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.

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 sport. He wrote a book about his experience and is currently an abuse victims' advocate.

Profile

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).

Known Victims

• Unspecified dates and locations: An unspecified number of male children (all sexually molested)
• February 19, 1984: Jody Plauché, 10 (abducted; previously repeatedly fondled and raped)
• Note: Doucet admitted he could not remember the exact number of young boys he molested during the course of his life

On Criminal Minds

While Doucet was never directly mentioned or referenced on the show, he and Gary seem to have been inspirations for the following unsubs:

• Season Three
  • Brian Matloff ("Tabula Rasa") - Both are serial offenders who took advantage of their position of authority to target their victims, evaded justice at one point, and had an attempt on their lives by the father of one of their victims (which was successful only in killing Doucet).
• Season Four
  • Gary Michaels ("Memoriam") - Both were pedophilic serial rapists (budding in Michaels' case) who were approximately the same age, committed prior sex offenses, victimized a young boy in 1984 (Michaels raped and killed Riley Jenkins, while Doucet abducted and molested Jody Plauché), and were subsequently murdered by the fathers of their victims.
• Season Eight
  • Rodney Harris ("Restoration") - Both are murderers primarily targeting the sexual abusers of their sons, the victims had positions as sports coaches, which is how each respective son was targeted, stalked their victims before killing them in blitz attacks, and were arrested by policemen who already knew each killer.
• Season Eleven
  • Michael Clark Thompson ("Hostage") - Both were abductors who were registered sex offenders, targeted children of a certain gender (boys in Doucet's case, girls in Thompson's), abducted and repeatedly abused them sexually, and were shot to death with a revolver by the parent of one of their victims after walking past them while apprehended inside a public building.

Sources

• Wikipedia's article on Gary Plauché
• E:60 - A Time to Kill - The Gary Plauché story
• Jeffrey Paul Doucet (1959-1984)- Find a Grave Memorial
• ESPN - A father's justice
• Gary Provost. Shocking True Stories of Citizens Who Took the Law Into Their Own Hands. Crossroad Press. 2013. ASIN: B00GOLT12C
• John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Journey Into Darkness. Gallery Books. 2010. ISBN: 978-1-439-19981-7