A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated 30 minutes on Wednesday evening (Oct. 30) in finding Lance Johnson, a former public school teacher’s assistant, guilty of repeatedly sexually propositioning a 14-year-old student.
Johnson, 42, of LaPlace, was convicted as charged of indecent behavior with a juvenile and soliciting for prostitution involving someone under age 18. Although the perpetrator and victim were at the same east bank school, the juvenile was never one of Johnson’s students.
Johnson made numerous sexual advances toward the juvenile while on school grounds, beginning in June 2022, and later offered to pay the student $80 in exchange for a sexual act. At one point, Johnson drove to the student’s home.
The student disclosed Johnson’s behavior to another teacher, who in turn alerted the student’s mother. In September 2022, she reported it to the Jefferson Parish Public Schools System, which suspended Johnson pending the investigation, and to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives obtained evidence that included residential surveillance video footage showing Johnson’s off-campus encounters with the student. Separately, the doorbell camera at the student’s home also recorded Johnson driving up and speaking with the juvenile in the street.
Detectives used Johnson’s cell phone records to corroborate the videos, showing his location when he encountered the student off-campus and at the student’s home.
The jury that was seated on Tuesday and heard one day of testimony returned with its guilty verdicts at about 6:10 p.m., Wednesday.
Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Johnson next Wednesday (Nov. 6).
Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Molly Love prosecuted the case.