LAFAYETTE, La. — Jacob De La Paz, who had previously worked as a teacher at St. Thomas More High School, entered a not guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday over a child pornography charge. During the arraignment that took place in front of United States Magistrate Judge David Ayo, De La Paz’s attorney, Joe Burke, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
On May 17, a federal grand jury handed down an indictment against De La Paz charging her with one count of attempted production of child pornography in relation to an incident that occurred on or around January 12. According to a report by KLFY, he abruptly departed the school on April 27, and the next day, he was taken into custody by authorities of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Since his arrest, De La Paz has been detained at the St. Martin Parish jail, and he participated in the proceeding via Zoom while he was confined there. In the event that De La Paz is found guilty, the penalties that await her include a minimum of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 30 years, a fine of $250,000, and further monetary assessments.
After his arrest, Sarah Loicano, a Public Affairs Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, stated that the investigation is still ongoing and that additional charges may be forthcoming. Both North Vermilion High School and the school in Arkansas where it was discovered that De La Paz had “engaged in inappropriate communication with a student via text messaging” were former places of employment for De La Paz. The incident in Arkansas occurred in 2017.
