Beaumont doctor facing felony charge, reports compromised juvenile records

A feud between neighbors in Beaumont’s west end took a dramatic turn last summer, resulting in a local doctor facing serious legal consequences for at least one felony charge of criminal mischief, with the possibility of more to follow. Once in front of a judge, 59-yearold psychologist Dr. John Walter Bordages Jr. divulged that his attention is attuned to more pressing matters, specifically, “Someone (is) logging onto my computers and erasing forensic reports for Hardin County Juvenile Probation.”

 

‘Tis some visitor’

Carl Peyton and his wife were settled in for a summer’s evening in June 2023 when came a rapping at their front door; what followed was shattered glass pinging off the Peytons’ tile flooring.

“I jumped to my feet in time to see Dr. John Walter Bordages running out of our entryway and I gave chase,” Carl Peyton swore in a witness statement provided to the Beaumont Police Department (BPD) following the June 25, 2023, incident. Peyton stated that he thought better of continuing to chase after his neighbor and he returned home to call the police.

Collecting two views of the front door mayhem from surveillance cameras mounted at the victims’ home, Peyton was ready to positively identify the man he claimed was responsible for this latest harassment. Security camera footage shows a man identified as Bordages approaching the Peytons’ property, striking the door forcefully with a closed fist, leaving a note, and then fleeing while clutching his injured arm. When police arrived, Peyton was sure his neighbor would be leaving in handcuffs. Peyton was wrong.

“Police talked to him and he admitted to the break-in but they did not arrest him due to the police not seeing the attempted break-in,” Peyton further wrote in his statement of events. “We do not understand why the police are unable to protect us by removing this danger to the neighborhood.”

Beaumont police did speak to Bordages the night of the commotion after responding to a called-in report of an attempted burglary in the gated community where the suspect lives next door to the Peytons. While interviewing the suspect, police noted injuries consistent with the Peytons’ account and observed damages to the property. Bordages reportedly admitted to a BPD officer that the events captured on the security footage were in fact depictions of him, and that the whole mess was sparked by an ongoing civil dispute with the HOA (homeowners’ association) over which Carl Peyton served as president.

In addition to having to clean a bloody, glassy foyer, the Peytons also claimed damages in excess of $2,500 for the broken glass door, a specialty glass design from a maker no longer living. The amount of the damage fit the bill for requirements of a state jail felony charge of criminal mischief. However, Bordages’ harassment of his neighbors didn’t cease with the June 2023 incident, as evidenced by a mass of calls for assistance kept in the records of the BPD.

 

‘Love thy neighbor’

Multiple BPD incident reports document further disturbances caused by Bordages, including instances where he allegedly caused structural damage to the Peytons’ property and flooded their atrium.

Peyton recounted one incident where Bordages reportedly flooded their atrium deliberately, causing damages estimated at $5,000. Peyton described how Bordages had positioned a sprinkler to direct water onto their roof and into their home, resulting in extensive damage to their flooring and interior. Despite attempts to contact Bordages during these incidents, the water-runner remained unresponsive, leading Peyton to seek assistance from the authorities.

Peyton reported hiring someone to cover the damaged area with plexiglass, only for Bordages to allegedly subsequently vandalize it with spray paint. Despite efforts to address these issues through law enforcement, there were delays in the legal process. According to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, they received the cases regarding the atrium flooding and plexiglass from BPD, which occurred in September 2023, the same month Boardages was indicted for the June 2023 criminal mischief. The district attorney’s office reports sending the September 2023 case back to BPD for more information in November 2023, and have not received anything back as of press time.

“He even broke the window out of a friend’s Tesla who was here for a party one Saturday night; it was just an ongoing nightmare until he got arrested and we haven’t heard from him since,” Peyton told The Examiner following Bordages’ initial appearance before Judge John Stevens’ Criminal District Court on Dec. 19, 2023.

Peyton added that he had called the fire department several times after Bordages was “smoking them out” by setting fire to papers on his back porch, causing flames and smoke to get extremely close to their home.

“He told me he had to burn CPS records when I asked him to stop and I offered to pay for them to be shredded,” said Peyton. “The fire department came several times, but he eventually just stopped answering the door for them.”

B o r d a g e s invoked the wisdom of a happy existence centered on loving one’s neighbor in tribute to his father’s passing in July 2022, “For in learning to love our neighbor we can bring heaven to earth.” By December 2023, Bordages was telling Judge Stevens that he tried his best to avoid his neighbors at all costs. 

 

Making sense of cases and cents

Bordages told the Criminal District Court judge that the Peytons weren’t the only people close to home that have caused him great distress. The PhD psychologist told Stevens that his life fell further into chaos with the introduction of a man to his home that would ultimately steal from him and compromise sensitive information belonging to children under his care.

“I use the Macintosh…someone (is) logging onto my computers and erasing forensic reports for Hardin County Juvenile Probation,” said Bordages, who added that he, “…had a hard drive stolen, my identity stolen, credit cards stolen…”

Hardin County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Monica Kelley, following the initial court appearance, stated Bordages was contracted with Hardin County to perform psychological evaluations for juveniles and adults. She was unaware Bordages was in court facing criminal mischief charges.

“We haven’t seen him in a while, like several months,” said Kelley. “He must be talking about some older cases.”

Kelley indicated that she was unaware of any type of forensic reports that would be coming from Hardin County.

“I don’t know what he is calling that (forensic reports),” she said. “He only does psychological evaluations that we normally use if we are going to court and get someone diagnosed with ADHD or such.”

Through a neighbor’s testimony, Bordages is accused of himself burning records of psychiatric evaluations performed for Child Protective Services, as Bordages claims contracts with multiple public entities to perform child evaluations. Despite alleged affiliations with various client-based services, Bordages also claimed indigency when requesting that taxpayers foot the bill for his courtappointed attorney.

Bordages self-reports employment as a mental health consultant, with present work “performing neurocognitive and psychological evaluations and treatment planning for nursing home residents with a range of complicating medical conditions resulting in mental health issues” for clients in Jefferson and Hardin counties. Representatives from Child Protective Services, as well as the Juvenile Probation Offices for Jefferson and Orange counties, report that they hold no contracts for service with Bordages.

Criminal District Court Judge Stevens did find that Boardages is bringing in more income than allowed to retain a court-appointed attorney and stripped the defendant of taxpayerfunded attorney John West.

“I do not find you indigent,” Stevens said after Bordages reported earning an excess of $3,000 monthly combining his Social Security disability and parttime employment earnings. “You make more money than other people who are able to afford lawyers, and if you can bring home $3,000 a month, you’re going to be able to pay … situations like this cost.”

According to the Jefferson County DA’s Office, Bordages was scheduled for announcement before Stevens on Feb. 21, which was cancelled at the request of the defense; Bordages is now set to appear on the felony charge of criminal mischief on April 3.

 

— Dannie Oliveaux contributed to this report.