GONZALES A former East Ascension High assistant athletic trainer and health teacher has pleaded guilty to prohibited sexual conduct with a 17-year-old female student last year, part of a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid jail time.

Louis Carl Aguillard, 34, 39340 Hunter's Trace, Prairieville, received on Monday a suspended six-month jail sentence with six months probation, during which he cannot teach or coach, his plea agreement says.

Aguillard must also pay a $1,000 fine and give 100 hours of community service.

Tyler Cavalier, spokesman for the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, said the victim did not want to testify at trial, which was set to start Wednesday morning in Gonzales.

"We feel that based on the circumstances surrounding the case, with the victim not wanting to testify, we had the best possible outcome," Cavalier said Wednesday.

He noted the suspended prison sentence and fine were the maximum allowed by the charge to which Aguillard pleaded, which was prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student.

Aguillard, who was an assistant trainer for all of the Gonzales high schools youth sports programs, had worked at East Ascension High since 2014 but stopped working there some time before his arrest May 25, school officials said.

After a weeklong investigation, Aguillard turned himself in to police May 25, the same day that students finished school for the year. Police said at the time thata teacher had reported concerns to a faculty member who shared those concerns with police.

Prosecutors later charged Aguillard with felony malfeasance in office and the misdemeanor count to which he ended up pleading Monday at the Parish Courthouse Annex in Gonzales.

The felony malfeasance count was dropped as part of his plea Monday before Judge Thomas Kliebert Jr. of the 23rd Judicial District Court, online minutes say.

Online records show Aguillard's license to teach has been expired since August. Under state law and licensing rules, the conviction would have been grounds for suspending or revoking his license, a state education official said.

Aguillard's attorney, J. Rodney Messina, did not return a message for comment left Tuesday evening. Assistant District Attorney Shawn Bush prosecuted the case.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Former Ascension schools teacher pleads guilty to sexual contact ... - The Advocate