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NAKAMOTO: EBR school system ignored multiple complaints against alleged pedophile working as a teacher

7 months 3 weeks 6 days ago Thursday, August 31 2023 Aug 31, 2023 August 31, 2023 4:30 PM August 31, 2023 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - The WBRZ Investigative Unit confirmed complaints in 2020 and 2021 against an alleged pedophile employed by the East Baton Rouge Parish School System fell on deaf ears until he was fired this week for having an inappropriate relationship with a male sophomore at Belaire High.

Justin Broussard, who was the Time Out Room coordinator, was terminated this week. The East Baton Rouge Parish School System said Wednesday it contacted law enforcement and launched a Title IX investigation.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit confirmed through sources that the parent of that sophomore went to school leaders in 2020 complaining about Broussard and his inappropriate behavior.

A year later in 2021, a different parent also lodged complaints about Broussard when he worked at Park Forest Middle School.

"The teacher would show him d*** pics on his phone," the 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 one incident led to the principal contacting her.

"He (Broussard) groped him on his groin area and his chest and everything," the mother said. "They waited for the other students to leave."

The mother said following that encounter, she pulled her child from Park Forest Middle and did not let him return. She also found him another school. Nothing happened to the teacher despite those complaints. It all came back in a flood of emotions when she saw the WBRZ Investigative Unit story with Justin Broussard's photo Wednesday evening.

"Nobody believed my son," she said. "To be honest, they protected the adult more than they protected the child. They didn't want to deal with it. His case wasn't a priority."

That parent recorded conversations with the EBR School System when she filed her complaints. A snippet of one of them has a high-ranking school leader telling her, "We will get everything done right, and I'm going to make sure he's not on that campus."

Sometime after that complaint, Broussard transferred from Park Forest to Belaire High.

The mother who believes her complaint was ignored by the school system is also frustrated with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office which was responsible for investigating this case.

A spokeswoman said Thursday that the case remains open, but due to inconsistent statements at the time it did not take action.

WBRZ learned another complaint came in about Broussard in 2020. This one was from the same student who was allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with him when they got caught this week.

Sources said a classmate reported the incident to administrators, and there was evidence to confirm the relationship.

WBRZ has asked the East Baton Rouge Parish School System about why nothing happened after either the 2020 or 2021 complaints.

A spokesman issued the following statement:

We were made aware of this situation and followed all policies and processes to conduct investigations and subsequently rendered our findings. We will continue to cooperate with all agencies as necessary regarding this and all matters.

"He needs to go to jail," the mom said. "There needs to be stiff punishment, and he felt comfortable getting away with it. He needs to be in jail, and there needs to be justice for all the children he has done this to, including the ones that are too scared to speak up."

EBRSO says charges will likely be coming against Broussard. Again, the separate case from 2021 remains open.

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