A married, 32-year-old high school English teacher in Louisiana has been arrested for having sex with a 16-year-old male student.
The felony charge against the teacher, Shelley St.Pierre Dufresne, is carnal knowledge of a juvenile, local ABC affiliate WGNO reports.
Dufresne teaches at Destrehan High School in the town of Destrehan, a fairly distant suburb of New Orleans.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s deputies say Dufresne engaged in “inappropriate sexual contact” with the then 16-year-old (now 17-year-old) student. according to The Times-Picayune.
The sexual escapades allegedly happened earlier this month. The sheriff’s office was tipped off after school officials reported that the unidentified student was bragging to friends about his exploits.
Dufresne is a 10-year veteran at Destrehan High.
Her father is 29th Judicial District Judge Emile St. Pierre, notes the Times-Picayune.
The multi-hued font on the English teacher’s Destrehan High School webpage begins: “Welcome to Mrs. Dufresne’s class!!!” It also notes that she has “three beautiful children” and graduated from Louisiana State University in 2005 with a degree in secondary education.
“I take my job and my students’ education seriously and try my best to help all of my students be successful,” she adds.
Local parents lamented the allegations and applauded the arrest.
“Unfortunately as a parent of a son that attends Destrehan High School, it’s a little overwhelming at times, and my son is taking it difficult as well, but I think the whole school is taking it difficultly,” parent Antonio Morales told WGNO. “When anything happens here at Destrehan, all of Destrehan suffers.”
Whoever the 16-year-old student is, he is apparently pretty popular with the female faculty at Destrehan High. According to an earlier WGNO report, a second teacher at the school is also under investigation for having sex with him.
Sheriff’s deputies believe at least some of the trysts occurred inside this second teacher’s home. They also say multiple sources have indicated that there is videotape of the alleged encounters.
Dufresne was released on Tuesday night on a $200,000 bond. The bond conditions include house arrest except for mental health counseling, doctor visits and church.
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