Golden Meadow Middle School art teacher faces trial for allegedly molesting teen
A Lafourche Parish jury heard lurid testimony from a 26-year-old Galliano woman who claims the man who was once her middle school art teacher sexually abused her in 2009 on Tuesday, the first day of his trial on multiple sexual abuse charges.
Ralph Cheramie, 64, is charged with molestation of a juvenile, indecent behavior with a juvenile under 13 and sexual battery of a victim under 13. If convicted, Cheramie would face up to 25 years in prison on the first charge, between two and 25 years on the second, and between 25 and 99 years on the third.
The victim in this case is one of at least three former students Cheramie is accused of molesting who came forward with their accusations as adults.
Assistant District Attorney Jason Chatagnier told jurors during his opening statement that school administrators and law enforcement had failed the alleged victim, describing how her mother discouraged her from making a report, and how school officials did nothing after being informed of the allegation.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Tracy Schwab said evidence against his client is lacking, and that a civil lawsuit brought against Cheramie by one witness is what has motivated her to testify against him.
Under questioning by Chatagnier, the woman described how the alleged behavior began. The Courier’s policy is to not identify victims of sex crimes.
"He would ask me to stay after class," she said. "He would kiss on my neck and my ear.”
The woman then further testified that Cheramie’s acts escalated in intimacy over the course of the school year, until one day, after he unbuckled his pants and told her to remove hers, she fled from the classroom. The woman was asked by Chatagnier if she consented to the advances.
“Can you legally consent when you are 12-years old?" she responded in an exasperated tone.
The woman appeared distressed during her testimony. At one point, as she spoke, Cheramie gritted his teeth and shook his head as if to say “no.” The woman then directly addressed the defendant, saying, “You can sit there and shake your head all you want, but I know the truth."
After leaving the witness stand during a break, the visibly shaken woman vomited into a trash can outside the courtroom.
Although testimony indicated that the school’s now-deceased principal was informed of the alleged sexual abuse, a police officer had earlier stated that there were no reports of any incidents on file from that time. Teachers and school administrators are required by law to report sexual abuse allegations involving a child.
Her mother, she said, told her not to move further with her allegations because “she could ruin a man’s life.”
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The woman’s mother herself later testified, acknowledging this, stating she did not want her daughter pursuing the matter because the family did not have money to afford an attorney. Crime victims are not required to hire attorneys for criminal prosecutions, which are handled free of charge by district attorneys.
The witness who has filed the lawsuit against the Lafourche Parish School Board for Cheramie's actions– whose criminal case has yet to be tried – later described to jurors what she said was her own molestation at the hands of Cheramie that allegedly began when she was 13. He is not being tried for those acts at this time, although he has been charged in connection with them.
State District Court Judge Christopher Boudreaux allowed her testimony so that prosecutors could show jurors what they claim is a pattern of criminal behavior.
Jurors were shown a video taken during police questioning of Cheramie in which he admits to sexual acts with the witness when she was 16. The witness told jurors about what she later learned was grooming of her by Cheramie.
"I felt safe, I felt special," the witness said. "He told me in other cultures men can marry children."
In her case, the woman said, the abuse continued from 2003 through 2008, when she turned 18. At that time, she said she began dating a relative of Cheramie, and he would have to see the two of them together often. She told jurors he said he would be OK with it if they could have one last intimate moment together.
"I agreed to it so he wouldn't feel that I was teasing him," she said. "I was so curious about sex, but he didn't want to take my virginity. I didn't want him to be upset with me that I didn't give him the chance."
She said he would swap “love letters” with her that were written in code so that others couldn’t read them. She said that in the letters Cheramie treated her as an adult and included fantasies about her helping him raise his daughter, who was two years younger than she.
Jurors were expected to begin deliberations Wednesday after attorneys presented closing arguments.
John DeSantis contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Golden Meadow art teacher faces trial for allegedly molesting student
