Metairie Music Teacher Charged With Sexual Battery Three Years After Arrest

A 53-year-old former music teacher from Metairie has been formally charged with sexual battery, more than three years after his arrest in the case, and just months after he pleaded guilty to unrelated charges in a separate parish. Kyle Aucoin, who also goes by Kyle Aucoin-Melohn in court records, was charged by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office with one count of sexual battery involving a student who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged assault.

According to NOLA.com, the alleged victim met Aucoin after being cast in a play he was directing at the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center, where he worked alongside his role as a music teacher for the Jefferson Parish public school district. The student accused him of touching his genitals and other private areas on several occasions around 2015, authorities say. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives arrested Aucoin on February 13, 2023, and he was booked four days later, on February 24, 2023, with molestation of a juvenile and prohibited sexual contact between a student and educator.

A Three-Year Gap Before Formal Charges

Between that 2023 arrest and this week's formal filing, more than three years passed while Aucoin remained free on a $50,000 bond, the outlet's report notes. The reason for the delay is unclear, and the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office said it does not comment on open cases or investigations. Aucoin has an arraignment scheduled for September 24.

Long before the criminal case, Aucoin had built a visible profile in Jefferson Parish's community arts scene, serving as a musical director and performer for the Jefferson Performing Arts Society, including in a 2018 production of “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” according to BroadwayWorld.

A Separate Case Across the Parish Line

The Jefferson Parish charges are not Aucoin's only brush with the law. The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office opened its own investigation into him on December 1, 2022, after receiving an anonymous tip alleging he was molesting male students at Destrehan High School, where he taught Talented Theater, per the sheriff's office. Detectives in that case determined Aucoin had inappropriate sexual contact with a student between the ages of 16 and 17 sometime between 2017 and 2020.

St. Charles Parish court records showed Aucoin was charged with molestation of a juvenile and prohibited sexual contact between a student and educator. He pleaded guilty on November 21, 2023, to an amended charge of obscenity and was sentenced to three years of active probation, avoiding prison time in that case. Federal court records reviewed by Justia Law show Aucoin was employed as a Talented Theater instructor at Destrehan High School from around August 2017 until December 9, 2022, and that St. Charles Parish Public Schools launched its own internal administrative investigation into his conduct while cooperating with law enforcement, according to L'Observateur.

Steeper Stakes Under the New Charge

The felony sexual battery charge now filed in Jefferson Parish carries far greater exposure than the outcome Aucoin received in St. Charles Parish. Under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:43.1, felony sexual battery carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years, which must be served with or without hard labor and strictly without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, according to the state's statute as cited by Louisiana's revised statutes. That stands in stark contrast to the probation-only sentence he received after his St. Charles Parish plea.

A September 2023 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that state law requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to revoke an educator's teaching certificate upon conviction or guilty plea to felony offenses or specified sexual crimes, per a filing reviewed by NASACT. It remains an open question how the pending Jefferson Parish case and its September arraignment might factor into that credentialing process going forward.

Fifth Amendment Friction in a Separate Federal Suit

The criminal cases have also spilled into federal civil court. In 2024, Aucoin filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the St. Charles Parish School Board, alleging he was constructively discharged on December 9, 2022, and subjected to discrimination and retaliation based on sexual orientation, according to federal court filings reviewed by Justia Law. During a 2025 deposition in that lawsuit, Aucoin invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when questioned about the criminal proceedings against him in both St. Charles and Jefferson Parishes, prompting the school board to file motions to compel his testimony.

The victim in the Jefferson Parish case came forward in 2022, the same year the St. Charles Parish investigation began. Whether the newly filed felony charge and next month's arraignment will further affect the ongoing federal civil litigation remains unresolved.