PLAQUEMINE, LA (WAFB) – Once a teacher of the year in Iberville Parish, Keavin Keith was sentenced Wednesday to serve two years in prison.
Keith was sentenced to 10 years for the five counts of felony carnal knowledge. He was also sentenced to six months on each of the 30 counts of prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student. However, the judge gave him credit for time served, suspended all of the time except for two years and the sentences are to run concurrently, so Keith will serve a total of two years.
Keith was arrested in May 2015 by the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office for allegedly having sex with three of his former students.
One of the victims was 15 years old and another was 16. Sheriff Brett Stassi said results from the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab showed Keith even fathered a child with one of the victims who was associated with the investigation.
In July 2015, an Iberville Parish grand jury formally charged Keith with five counts of felony carnal knowledge and 30 counts of prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student.
In February 2016, Keith pleaded no contest to all the charges. A no contest plea means that the accused neither admits to nor denies the charges against him.
The judge treated that as a guilty plea and moved forward with sentencing. This was a plea deal, no matter whether the accused said “guilty” or “no contest,” which is why the defendant likely got a lesser penalty than what he was facing at trial.