Former teacher charged with sodomy involving teen
A former St. Louis area high school teacher is charged with sodomy in St. Francois County following reports of sexual assault involving a 16-year-old male.
Craig Alan Lachance Jr., 35, of Farmington, was charged last week with one count of second-degree statutory sodomy.
The case was filed this month, a little more than a year after the man was released from parole he was on for having sexual contact with a 17-year-old student while teaching choir at Fort Zumwalt High School.
According to a probable cause statement from the Farmington Police Department, a teen told a police investigator that when he was 16 years old, Lachance had grabbed the teen’s hand and stuck it down the front of his pants. The boy reportedly recalled his hand touching Lachance’s genitals, skin-to-skin, for several seconds before the teen pulled away.
The alleged sexual contact is reported to have occurred in Farmington between May 1 and Oct. 10, 2020, according to the report.
Following a Tuesday court hearing, Lachance was booked at the St. Francois County Detention Center on Tuesday, and a $500,000 bond is set in the case. If released on bail, Lachance is ordered to comply with GPS and pre-trial monitoring.
The man is further ordered to remain confined to his residence if his bond is posted, except for going to work, medical or treatment appointments, attorney visits, or court appearances. The man is also prohibited from having contact with any other person under the age of 18 years old if released.
Court records indicate that Lachance is a registered sex offender in Missouri, a status he received after pleading guilty in November 2017 to the felony charge of sexual contact with a student by a teacher in St. Charles County. The man was sentenced to serve four years in prison but was paroled after serving less than two years behind bars. He was later released from his parole on Aug. 28, 2021.
Lachance had initially been charged with first-degree sodomy and tampering with a victim in a felony prosecution, according to court documents. According to previous reporting from the Daily Journal’s sister publication, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Lachance was a choir instructor at Fort Zumwalt East High School in July 2016 when he texted a 17-year-old male student and invited him to his apartment, police said.
The teenager agreed to the visit, and Lachance drove to a discreet location near the teenager’s house to pick him up and take him back to his apartment.
The report states Lachance gave the teenager enough alcoholic beverages that the teenager became drunk. The teenager told Lachance he did not feel well, and Lachance took him to his bedroom, according to police.
The teenager passed out and awoke later to find Lachance performing sexual acts on him, the report said.
Lachance reportedly told the teenager that he would kill himself if the teen notified authorities.
Lachance was placed on administrative leave on March 30, 2017, once district officials were made aware of the investigation, Superintendent Bernard DuBray said at the time. He was a third-year teacher at the school and had passed all his background checks.
Craig Alan Lachance Jr.
Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com
