Morgan Freche (inset) in a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office mug shot; Loranger High School, the school the alleged victim attended (photo via WDSU screengrab).
A Louisiana teacher who resigned two days after being placed on leave is now facing multiple sex crime charges as authorities allege she raped a 17-year-old student who fathered her child.
Morgan Layne Freche, a 33-year-old from Loranger, was charged with one count of third-degree rape, four counts of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile, and one count of oral sexual battery. She turned herself in at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
According to investigators, the former Loranger Middle School teacher’s alleged sex crimes go back around two years — and Freche became pregnant and gave birth.
The sheriff’s office first referenced the case without naming the teacher on Sept. 28. Sheriff Daniel Edwards said that the case “alleging a 17-year-old male fathered a child with a Tangipahoa Parish School System employee” was reported on Sept. 24.
“While we cannot share specific details regarding the investigation, we can confirm that the allegations were dealt with promptly, and the investigation process has been rigorous and thorough,” the sheriff said. “This type of investigation is time-consuming and is being handled with great care. Under no circumstances will we be rushed for closure.”
Sept. 24 is the day that the student’s mother emailed Tangipahoa Parish School System Superintendent Melissa Stilley, according to what Stilley told local NBC affiliate WDSU.
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“The mother of the student involved emailed me on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 4:04 p.m. That’s when the school district became aware,” the superintendent claimed. “We immediately put the teacher on leave while law enforcement investigated. The teacher resigned on Tuesday, September 26.”
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A reported statement from Stilley said “allegations of this nature are unfortunate” and that the school system is “cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation of this matter at this time.”
“Neither the Board nor this office will tolerate employee behavior which crosses the line in areas such as the proper professional relationships between educators and their students,” the statement reportedly said.
But George Tucker, the attorney for the victim and his family, claimed that the illicit relationship was something of an open secret among certain individuals. He assigned blame to the Tangipahoa School System and to the school.
“The next steps are to try now and see why this wasn’t something that was shared with the family by those who knew far prior to now,” the lawyer told WDSU. “It’s become known that the family was notified twice, once by the family of the superintendent. The second time by two Loranger employees but was never reported.”
Tucker reportedly said that while his clients are “happy with the types of charges” Freche faces, they believe even more charges are warranted “because there were more events.”
The attorney separately told local ABC affiliate WBRZ that “Sex education was taken literally at this school.” The attorney explained that Loranger Middle School and Loranger High School share a campus. It’s alleged that the teen told his grandfather the illicit relationship began in December 2020 after a school basketball game.
“There’s a child born, but it’s not confirmed it’s my clients child, but it’s confirmed it’s a Black child,” Tucker reportedly said Tuesday.
Tangipahoa Parish Jail records show that Freche was booked at 11:05 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
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