HAHNVILLE, La. (WGNO) – Former Destrehan High School teacher Shelley Dufresne pleaded guilty to one felony count of obscenity and admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old student in St. Charles Parish.
The St. Charles Parish District Attorney’s Office announced the deal during a status conference Thursday morning at 29th Judicial District Court in Hahnville.
Dufresne was originally charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile, a charge that carries a potential 10-year jail sentence and mandatory registration as a sex offender.
By accepting the plea deal, Dufresne was sentenced by Judge Anne Simon to three years in prison which was deferred, a three years active probation, and she must pay a $1000 fine.
As part of her probation, Dufresne agreed to not contact the victim or his family, give up her teaching license, and to enter into a 90 day inpatient facility for mental health treatment.
If Dufresne fails to complete her probation, she could still be prosecuted on the carnal knowledge charge.
District Attorney, Joel Chaisson II, stated “I want to thank my special prosecutor, Julie Cullen, for her efforts to reach a fair resolution of the case and to secure a felony guilty plea, thereby sparing the juvenile victim in this matter from having to testify at a public trial.”
