Former Educator Guilty of Child Pornography Charge

LAFAYETTE, La. – Jacob Conrad De La Paz, 34, of Lafayette, has been found guilty of attempted receipt of child pornography, a federal crime that has shaken the community and left many questioning the safety of our children.

According to the Department of Justice, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that a jury in Lafayette returned a guilty verdict against De La Paz on one count of attempted receipt of child pornography. United States District Judge David C. Joseph presided over the three-day trial.

The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict as to the additional count in the indictment of attempted production of child pornography. De La Paz faces a sentence of 5 to 40 years in prison, supervised release of 5 years to life, and a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

De La Paz was formerly a teacher and coach at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette and a math teacher at North Vermilion High School in Maurice. He left North Vermilion High School and began teaching at St. Thomas More in the fall of 2022.

Testimony at trial revealed that in January 2023, De La Paz began communicating through social media with a former minor female student from North Vermilion High School who had reached out to him seeking his help as a math tutor. On January 12, 2023, De La Paz sent a video through the Facebook social media platform to the minor female student, who was 17 years old at the time, asking her to send him a video of her pleasuring herself.

He then sent a second video to the minor victim of himself masturbating to ejaculation. Further testimony in court revealed that De La Paz instructed the minor victim to delete the video and all of their conversations from Facebook.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren L. Gardner and J. Luke Walker.

Sentencing has been set for August 22, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. The community is left to wonder how this could have happened, and what measures can be taken to prevent such crimes in the future.

As a community, we must stand together to ensure that our children are safe and protected from predators like De La Paz. We will continue to follow this story and provide updates as more information becomes available.

This is a developing story, and we will provide more information as it becomes available.