Two Louisiana high school students have been accused of fabricating “inappropriate messages” that they claimed were sent to them by a teacher to cast him as a sexual predator.
The The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said they launched an investigation on December 18 after two female students at Central Lafourche High School in Mathews – about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans – alleged that an unknown male teacher had sent them X-rated messages.
However, a two-week investigation soon revealed that the 15- and 16-year-old students had fabricated the conversations on an online instant messaging platform.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the girls’ electronic devices and shockingly discovered that the teacher had not sent any messages to them and that they had created an online profile for him to give the impression that he was having risqué conversations with them.
The students shared screenshots of the fake calls and shared them with friends to make their scams appear legitimate, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators subsequently determined that the teacher was not the predator, as the girls claimed, but was the victim of a serious accusation.
When confronted with the findings, one of the students reportedly admitted to being involved in framing the teacher, police said.
“Our youth detectives are diligent and take complaints about inappropriate behavior very seriously. However, they are just as serious when it comes to false claims,” said Sheriff Craig Webre said.
“A person’s life can be instantly ruined by a false accusation and I am proud that our investigators were able to get to the bottom of this.”
The girls, who have not been named because of their age, were charged Monday with false swearing with intent to harm public health or safety, cyberstalking and online impersonation, according to police.
“Technology has made it very easy for people to manipulate the truth, but technology also makes it easy for researchers to ultimately find the truth,” Webre said.
Lafourche Parish School District Superintendent Jarod Martin said he was “shocked and appalled” when he learned one of his teachers was framed and nearly lost his livelihood because of the serious but false allegations.
The superintendent condemned the attack on the teacher and criticized the students’ alleged blatant attempt to ruin his “credibility and reputation.”
“We are committed to investigating all allegations of misconduct to provide a safe environment conducive to learning and work for all our students and staff.”
