Deputies searching for EBR teacher accused of grooming student
BATON ROUGE - Following a months-long investigation into a high school counselor's inappropriate relationship with a student, authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the former Belaire High School employee.
East Baton Rouge Parish deputies are looking for 28-year-old Justin Broussard, who is accused of grooming a 16-year-old male high school student when Broussard was employed at Belaire High School.
Deputies said Broussard may be in Lake Charles or Lafayette.
Sources told WBRZ on Aug. 29, the victim logged into a social media account on another student's phone. The victim did not log out and the student saw messages from Broussard, which were sexual in nature, and told school administrators.
The next day, the WBRZ Investigative Unit reported that Broussard had been fired. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Systems sent a release, saying that there was a criminal investigation into what had happened.
An arrest warrant for Broussard details a conversation between deputies and the victim. The high schooler described a relationship with Broussard that did not resemble a normal teacher-student connection.
The victim said Broussard asked multiple times for lewd pictures and videos of the victim masturbating, along with specific sexual favors like oral sex. The victim did not disclose if the two ever had a physical relationship, but did say that the two had met up outside of school before. The victim said Broussard took him to get a small tattoo without parental permission, and then Broussard got the same tattoo in a similar place.
Trending News
The arrest warrant said that Broussard asked the victim to lie and not disclose any details about the grooming to school officials, fearing that he would get into trouble. Broussard deleted the messages from his phone and got a new number.
Upon arrest, Broussard will be booked for computer-aided solicitation of a minor, indecent behavior with juveniles and obstruction of justice.
The WBRZ Investigative Unit spoke with two mothers of children who attended Park Forest Middle, where Broussard was employed before Belaire High School.
"The teacher would show him d*** pics on his phone," one mother said. "Like flash d*** pics. The teacher would say he would rape him and make comments saying he would make him s*** his penis."
The mother said that Broussard touched and groped her child before the parent decided to pull her child from the school.
The other parent told the Investigative Unit they had complained to Park Forest Middle about Broussard buying things for her child.
"If I punished my son and said no internet for you, Justin Broussard would say you have bad parents... I'mma buy you a hot spot," she explained. "If I tell him you get no sweets today, Broussard would Door Dash cookies."