Lafayette, Louisiana - A former teacher and coach in Louisiana has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for attempting to receive child pornography. Jacob Conrad De La Paz, 34, was convicted by a jury in Lafayette on May 22, 2024, for one count of attempted receipt of child pornography.
According to evidence presented during the trial, De La Paz began communicating with a 17-year-old former student from North Vermilion High School in January 2023. The student had reached out to De La Paz for help with math tutoring. However, their conversation quickly took a disturbing turn. On January 12, 2023, De La Paz sent the minor a video asking her to send him a video of herself engaging in explicit behavior. He then sent a second video of himself, this one exposing himself along with other sexual actions. De La Paz instructed the minor to delete the video and their conversations from Facebook.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office. De La Paz was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren L. Gardner and J. Luke Walker.
United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown stated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has a responsibility to prosecute individuals who engage in this type of conduct with minors. "Children are a vulnerable segment of our society, and when educators engage in this type of conduct with them, it is our mission to prosecute them," Brown said. "Today, justice has been served."
De La Paz was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender.