Former Louisiana School Deputy Convicted of Sex With Teen 29 Years Younger.

HOUMA, La. — A former sheriff's deputy faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted on four charges accusing him of sex with a then-16-year-old student at South Terrebonne High School.

Glenn Brunet, 47, has denied any sexual contact with the girl, who is now 18.

He was convicted Thursday of carnal knowledge of a juvenile — consensual sex between someone who is at least 19 years old and someone between the ages of 13 and 16. He was found not guilty on seven other counts.
Terrebonne Parish First Assistant District Attorney Carlos Lazarus said prosecutors will seek prison time but wouldn't say how much. Defense attorney Jim Alcock declined comment after the verdict.

The girl told the six-person jury she was looking for a stable influence and developed a crush on Brunet, a school deputy who had previously coached her softball team. By the time he was arrested, she said she had called his cell phone 260 times, exchanged e-mails using a code name and had sex with him close to a dozen times, each of which she described in detail.

Brunet said he considered counseling teens at the high school his most important job. He said that — except for the allegations about sex — much of the girl's accounts were generally true. For instance, he said he had once walked her across campus after hours. But, he said it was to help her get her jacket from a locked classroom, not to have sex.

Asked by his attorney why she would make those claims, Brunet said, "She's starved for attention. She's got her attention."