Sheriff: Port Barre police officer accused of trading sexual favors for leniency on traffic violations
PORT BARRE, La. (KLFY)- Authorities say a Port Barre police officer has confessed to engaging in sexual activity with a woman he pulled over.
The officer allegedly offered the woman leniency for a traffic violation in exchange for sexual favors.
The woman says she was pulled over for speeding on U.S. 190, and the officer said he’d give her leniency on her traffic violations in return for sexual favors.
“She had a switched license plate, and he told her was a jailable offense. She had to go to jail unless, allegedly he says, unless she did a favor for him, and the favor was, of course, having sex,” St. Landry Parish Bobby Guidroz said.
Sheriff Guidroz says about a month after the alleged incident, the woman came forward and
filed a complaint against the 21-year-old Port Barre police officer, Darwin Fontenot.
Sheriff Guidroz says Fontenot confessed to having sex with the complainant during an investigative interview on May 8.
Fontentot was charged with malfeasance in office and third degree rape, which includes sexual activity between an authority figure and someone in their custody.
“He didn’t allow her to leave. She was under the assumption that she was in custody, which she
was, and so she didn’t have the freedom to say, ‘Can I go?’ if she would have asked,” Sheriff Guidroz said. “She assumed that she had to stay because she was in custody until the sex act was performed. And then when that was done, he came across the agreement that he made with her.”
Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux says the officer had been working for the Port Barre Police Department for about a year and a half before the incident.
Sheriff Guidroz says he believes this is Fontenot’s first time facing criminal charges.
“She was violated, and she was scared. I’m thankful she came out and admitted that this really happened,” Sheriff Guidroz said about the complainant.
He encourages others to do the same.
“Report. I ask people to report any kind of unusual activity of request made by police officers,
whether its a sheriff’s deputy or city police. Law enforcement supervisors need to know. We need to put a stop to this, so don’t hesitate to report,” he told News Ten.
Sheriff Guidroz says Fontenot now faces up to 40 years in jail.