Destrehan High School

Destrehan High School

(Littice Bacon-Blood, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said Tuesday that deputies expect "fairly soon" to complete their investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct involving two women teachers at Destrehan High School teachers and a male student. A Kenner Police Department spokesman said investigators there are assisting in that inquiry.

Champagne said deputies began their investigation on Friday, but he would not say how the Sheriff's Office became involved in. Nor would he say whether a complaint has been filed with his agency.

The general age of consent in Louisiana is 17. However, a 2009* state law prohibits sexual conduct between an educator and a student aged 17 to 20.* There are other criminal statues that address younger persons.

"We are investigating. We are working on it," Champagne said. "We will not comment any further."

There have been no arrests, and the teachers have not been publicly identified. However, school system spokeswoman Stevie Crovetto said the teachers were suspended with pay as of Friday and that the school system was "conducting a thorough investigation of the allegations."

She would not say when the allegations were brought to the school system's attention. She said the matter has been turned over to the Sheriff's Office. "Since this is a personnel issue and confidential, no further information can be discussed," Crovetto said.

A Kenner police spokesman said investigators there were brought into the investigation on Tuesday by St. Charles deputies. "We are currently assisting St. Charles since some of the allegations are alleged to have occurred in Kenner," Sgt. Brian McGregor said. " We just met with them today, so it would be premature to say a timeline."

The allegations of sexual misconduct, although reported to have taken place at a private residence, not at Destrehan High, have some parents concerned. "If you can't trust your teacher with your kids, who can you trust?" said Charmanne Dezara of Destrehan, who said her son is a student of one of the accused teachers.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said state law forbids sexual conduct between an educator and a student age 17 to 19. The law was revised in 2009 to increase the student age to 20.