Two teenage girls face felony charges after Louisiana authorities say they orchestrated a scheme to frame their high school teacher and accused him of sending them inappropriate messages online.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and Lafourche Parish Schools announced that a 15-year-old and 16-year-old were charged with one count each of felony false swearing for the purpose of violating public health or safety, cyberstalking, and online impersonation.
Detectives opened an investigation on Dec. 18, 2024, after a concerned party filed a report that a male teacher employed at Central Lafourche High School was sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old female student.
Authorities learned the teen and her 15-year-old friend were engaged in multiple conversations that took place on an online instant messaging platform where the teacher allegedly sent the improper, predatorial messages.
The investigation took two weeks to complete. During that time, detectives interviewed all the parties involved and obtained search warrants to look through phone records and accounts on the messaging platform.
That evidence revealed that the teenage girls fabricated the messages, created fake accounts, and shared screenshots with their friends in an attempt to frame the teacher.
Investigators learned the teacher had never been involved in any online conversations with the minors, inappropriate or otherwise, and was cleared of the false allegations. One of the girls later confessed to the crime.
Deputies charged the teens on Jan. 6 and placed them on electronic monitoring after releasing them to the custody of their parents.
“Someone’s life can be instantly ruined by a false allegation, and I am proud that our investigators were able to get to the bottom of this,” Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said. “Technology has made it very easy for people to try to manipulate the truth, but technology also makes it easy for investigators to ultimately find the truth.”
Lafourche Parish Schools Superintendent Jarod Martin said the district was “shocked and appalled” to learn of the students’ actions and called the accusations “false and malicious.”
“Such attacks on a teacher’s credibility and reputation are concerning and can inhibit their ability to effectively educate our children,” Martin said. “We are committed to investigating all allegations of misconduct in order to provide a safe environment conducive to learning and working for all of our students and staff.”
Authorities haven’t revealed the content of those fake messages or a motive for the girls’ scheme. The teens’ identities also have not been released since they are minors.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office posted about the teens’ charges on Facebook where hundreds of people condemned their actions.
“No plea deals should be considered. This was premeditated and evil,” one commenter wrote.
“I hope they get the maximum penalty allowed by law,” someone else added.
“This is terrible. I hope their punishment fits the crime. Also that teacher needs to bring a civil suit against those two!” another person commented.
