Louisiana teachers Rachel Respess and Shelley Dufresne, have been arrested and charged with felonies after they allegedly carried on a sexual relationship with a student. The Destrehan High School teachers are accused of various acts including one-on-one sex and group sex.
Both women surrendered to Kenner police on Wednesday afternoon, they were booked at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center and were taken into custody by early evening.
In court documents Rachel Respess and Shelley Dufresne took their male student to Respess’ home where they engaged in hours of group sex. Following that incident the student, who is now 17-years-old, bragged to his friends about the sexual encounters he was regularly engaging in.
Shelley Dufresne, 32, and Rachel Respess, 24, were arrested and immediately charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.
The group sex encounter occurred on September 12, when the student was just 16-years-old.
In the state of Louisiana the legal age for consent is 17. Police are currently only investigating the group sex claim because the student may have been able to legally consent during other encounters.
Speaking to WDSU, Kenner Police Chief Michael Glaser said, “No matter what sex the victim is, everyone should be outraged.”
Rachel Respess was released early Thursday morning, and while Dufresne was released, she still faces further charges in St. Charles, Louisiana. Dufresne was released on a $200,000 bond.
The student sex scandal became more complicated after Defresne’s own father, a judge in St. Charles, was forced to recuse himself from the case. The Supreme Court will assign another judge to handle charges in that city. A second judge also recused herself, noting that she is a friend of the family. Judge Lauren Lemmon was the judge at Defresne’s bond hearing, but will not further sit on the bench during any criminal or civil cases involving the charged teacher. The only Judge left to try the case is Michele Morel. Assistant Attorney General Julie Cullen will prosecute the case.
It appears at this time that both women will be tried independently of one another. Attorneys for both Rachel Respess and Shelley Dufresne have not yet offered many details about their case.
Kenner police interviewed Respess and they claim she corroborated many of the students claims, “but stopped short of a total confession.”
Dufresne is married with three young children. She graduated from Destrehan High in 2000 and LSU in 2005. She has served as a teacher at the high school for 10 years.
School officials have been fully cooperating with authorities ever since the story broke.