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Cop, deputy arrested after night of partying with teenage girl
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HAMMOND - A Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's deputy was fired, the WBRZ Investigative Unit learned, after an incident with a 17-year-old girl.
The deputy, Kasey Jackson, was terminated for conduct unbecoming and was charged with simple battery. He worked in the patrol division and was hired in August of 2020, according to the sheriff's office.
A second law enforcement officer was charged in connection with the incident, too, WBRZ Chief Investigator Chris Nakamoto learned. Cory Champagne faces a simple battery charge. Champagne worked as a part-time police officer in Bunkie. Champagne was placed on leave Monday and quit Tuesday, according to Bunkie Chief of Police Scott Ferguson.
The men were arrested after the 17-year-old said she was forced to lock herself in a bathroom to escape unwanted advances while she was with the men at a house in Hammond last week. The teenager's family told WBRZ, the girl was at a club with a 19-year-old friend and ended up at the home with Jackson and Champagne.
The girl's mother and grandmother said the teenager reported the two men tried to take her shirt off and that's when she ran to a bathroom and locked the door. While in the bathroom, the 17-year-old began sharing her location with her social media followers and started pleading for help. One of her friends saw the post and alerted authorities, according to her family.
"She said nana, both officers touched my shoulders one had each one of my arms trying to take my arms off," Dannetia Orgeron, the alleged victims grandmother said. "I started jiggling acting like I had to use the bathroom, and I said can I please use the bathroom first. She went to the bathroom and locked the door and went through her contacts."
In a police report obtained by WBRZ Monday, detectives wrote two girls said they were drinking with the suspects when they were offered "money to strip for them" and eventually the younger girl went to the bathroom and contacted friends. Jackson and Champagne disputed the statements when questioned by detectives.
"You're supposed to trust law enforcement," Orgeron said. "That's the people you call for help. You're not supposed to be having to call someone to help you from law enforcement."
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said the battery charge came after the duo grabbed one of the teens. The Sheriff's Office said at no time were the teens held against their will.
"The recent arrest of former Bunkie Police Department Auxiliary Officer Corey Champagne by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office is disturbing and not keeping within the standards of personal conduct expected by any commissioned police officer," Ferguson said in a statement to WBRZ. "Police Officers and their Auxiliary Partners are held to higher standards of behavior and should be. Bad decisions bring about bad results."
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