TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. — In downtown Baton Rouge Wednesday, national civil rights attorney Ben Crump stood with the family of a Tangipahoa Parish teenager with a message.
“There must be accountability,” said Crump.
Crump says there’s been a lack of that after a Tangipahoa Parish teacher was arrested last year for alleged sexual misconduct with a student. That student is Crump’s client in a federal lawsuit against the Tangipahoa Parish School System and former teacher Morgan Freche.
“Teachers are supposed to be people we can trust, but yet, that trust was betrayed,” said Crump.
Crump says Freche, who was a teacher and administrator at Loranger Middle and High Schools, started sexually grooming the teen at the age of 14. From there, the lawsuit claims he was sexually abused by Freche throughout high school and eventually fathered a child with her.
“We’re trying to recover from this. We just want justice,” said the teen’s grandfather, Preston Alexander.
The now former student’s family said they had no idea the abuse was happening. His mom, Esoterica Hill, says her son’s innocence was stolen and he has suffered ever since.
“It’s not a child’s nature to be molested and to be raped by people that are supposed to take care of them, and who are a part of their community and their village, who are supposed to be a safety net for them, and when you have a child who has so much promise, who feels like they have nothing now, what do you do,” said Hill.
The family’s attorneys hope this lawsuit will bring accountability, especially to the Tangipahoa Parish School System, which they say knew of the alleged abuse but did nothing.
“The school district had numerous opportunities to take corrective measures to rectify this situation but in effect, failed him too,” said attorney Aaron Karger.
While the criminal case against Freche is pending, Crump wants the civil case to shine a separate light.
“Whether it is a white girl or a black boy, child sexual abuse is an atrocity, and we must stand against it firmly. It should not be a two-tiered system,” said Crump.
The lawsuit seeks several damages with unspecified compensation. WWL Louisiana reached out to the Tangipahoa Parish School System for comment on the lawsuit and allegations, but no one called us back. Freche remains out of jail on bond.
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