Investigators Confirm Second Video as Acadiana Teacher Accused of Seeking Child Porn to Remain in Jail
Jacob de la Paz, the Acadiana teacher accused of seeking child porn from a former student, will remain in jail until his case is presented to a grand jury.
According to an updated report from the Acadiana Advocate, de la Paz was ordered to be held in federal custody stemming from an April 27 arrest where he was accused of enticing a minor "to engage in the production of child pornography/child sexual abuse material."
A shocking video that allegedly showed a shirtless de la Paz made its rounds on social media for days before news of his firing from St. Thomas More High School and his subsequent arrest.
Advocate reporter Katie Gagliano noted that prosecutors have 30 days from that April 27 arrest date to present their case to a grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict de la Paz. If federal prosecutors do secure charges, de la Paz "will then be scheduled for arraignment."
The aforementioned viral video was sent on Jan. 12 and according to agents, the teenage girl on the receiving end was a student that de la Paz tutored. He initially met the 17-year-old girl when he worked at North Vermilion High School as a track coach and a teacher.
Although de la Paz left NVHS in the fall of 2022 to take a job teaching at St. Thomas More High School, the 33-year-old continued to tutor the teenage girl.
In addition to the video that made its rounds on social media, investigators say they confirmed a second, more explicit, video that was sent to the teenage student.
Investigators confirmed the existence of the video and a second video sent by de la Paz, depicting a white male masturbating, he said. De la Paz’s face was not shown in the second video; investigators executed a search warrant at de la Paz’s home and confirmed the room shown in the videos is a match for his bedroom.
Agents also confirmed with the 17-year-old minor that she also sent "a sexual video" with de la Paz on Jan. 14, just days after his explicit request.
Federal officials are also pointing to the fact that this isn't new behavior for de la Paz, as a past incident in Arkansas that involved "inappropriate communications with a student" follows a similar pattern as de la Paz and another student (also 17 at the time of their communications) that he taught back in 2017 discussed "their love" and their future relationship; and just like he did with the minor at the center of his most recent allegations, de la Paz also discussed keeping their messages a secret from others.
the teen informed investigators that de la Paz instructed her to delete their messages routinely because he was concerned about them being discovered.
According to the Advocate report, more than 600 text messages from the Arkansas incident were presented in court along with information that connected de la Paz with at least two to three other minors he allegedly carried on explicit conversations with.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker pointed out de la Paz's behavior in Arkansas, alluding to the fact that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
That’s the amazing thing. He got caught in Arkansas….Then he came down here and he did it again
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Ayo seemed to echo Walker's sentiments on Thursday (May 4).
I can’t get past the breach of trust implicit in the charged offense, especially with Mr. de la Paz having been expressly warned about it by the state of Arkansas and his family.
See Ayo's full comments as well as more details on accusations against de la Paz in Lafayette as well as past incidents in Arkansas in the full report from The Advocate here.