Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series breaking all bounds of the genre to live up to its title in every way conceivable, Lifetime’s ‘The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’ can only be described as baffling. That’s because it comprises not just exclusive interviews but also archival footage to really shine a light upon the way a little girl allegedly endured years of extensive abuse before finally hitting back. Amongst those to thus share their side of the story with her in this original is her grandfather, Claude Anthony Pitre Sr. — the man to have allegedly assaulted her while she was a mere toddler.
Who is Claude Pitre Sr.?
It was reportedly back in July 1991 when Gypsy came into this world to Clauddine “Dee Dee” Pitre Blanchard and her ex-husband Rod Blanchard, making him the youngster’s grandfather. The truth is they were all quite close in the beginning, with them going as far as to do karaoke nights, play games, or just have one, only for things to turn upside down when Gypsy was around 5. The grandfather-granddaughter duo had actually gotten into a motorcycle crash, just for Dee Dee to turn her little girl’s bruises into major injuries.
In fact, this is when Dee Dee actually began asserting Gypsy needed a wheelchair to walk despite Claude as well as other relatives all knowing she was perfectly capable of doing things all on her own. So once these questions turned to suspicions, the single mother of one moved out of the house and the town without any money or stability; they survived on project housing and government tickets. However, when Dee Dee got badly hurt around the 2000s, she was left with no choice but to return back home with Gypsy, changing everything for the worse.
That’s because, according to Gypsy’s own narrative in this production, Claude began sexually molesting her — his assaults reportedly spanned a year, till she and her mother ultimately left again. “I’ve gotten to a point where I can stand on my own two feet and say, this happened to me and I’m not going to let it affect me anymore,” she recently told People. “And that’s why I’m talking about it now.” However, he has since vehemently denied this allegation; instead, he asserts in the documentary that “She was the one that was trying to touch me, and I’d say no, don’t do that… She started doing that when she was about 4 years old.”
Where is Claude Pitre Now?
From what we can tell, Claude is a two-time widower — he lost his first wife and the mother of his five kids, Emma Lois Gisclair Pitre, in 1997, followed by lover Laura Mae Lee Serigny Pitre in 2018. And while Gypsy no longer wants anything to do with him at all, many family members continue to maintain their bond with him as well as their community in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. In other words, Claude is now leading a quiet, retired life in Golden Meadow, where he’s surrounded by his remaining brood and doing his best to move on from the tragedy of their family.
Read More: Mia Blanchard: Gypsy’s Half-Sister is a Student at the University of Louisiana Today
