Former local teacher under investigation
East Carroll Parish Sheriff's office along with the Madison Parish Sheriff's office is investigating a former Lake Providence and Tallulah teacher.
East Carroll Parish Sheriff Wydette Williams, gave us a press release stating that "We are deeply concerned about the criminal history of Mr. Derrick Arrington."
Last week, the principal of Briarfield Academy sent parents an email stating there was an on-going investigation concerning a former teacher, Arrington. Arrington was currently employed at Tallulah Academy when the investigation started.
On October 31, Arrington was in a car accident. After the accident red flags started to pop up. That is when sources say law enforcement learned about his true identity.
According to court records, Derrick Arrington is also Derrick LePard. In 2006, LePard started teaching at Cold Springs High School in Cullman County, Alabama. In 2009, LePard was arrested on pornography and extortion charges.
The Cullman Times reported that LePard attempted to extort a male student into exchanging sexual photos of himself for better grades. The 17-year-old male student testified that LePard asked him to "be creative" and take pictures of himself. The pornography charges did not involve any students at Cold Springs High School.
In 2010, LePard accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which is a Class A misdemeanor. As a part of the plea deal, the two felony charges, extortion, and pornography were dropped.
LePard was sentenced to a 24 month unsupervised period of probation. LePard's teaching certification in Alabama was revoked. LePard then moved to Mississippi going by the name Derrick Arrington.
Arrington started teaching at Greenville Christian Academy in Greenville, Mississippi, according to school officials.
After leaving Greenville Christian Academy, Arrington went to Lake Providence, Louisiana, where he started teaching at Briarfield Academy.
We have reached out to both, Briarfield Academy and Tallulah Academy, but both headmasters and presidents declined to comment.
KNOE has also reached out to the FBI, but agents could not confirm nor deny its involvement in the case.
Sheriff Williams said there are currently no allegations of criminal activity involving Arrington and any student.
