Higgins High School teacher arrested after allegedly masturbating in classroom

[Carlos Spicy Wiener]

A teacher at a Marrero high school has been arrested after authorities say he was caught masturbating in a classroom by students and another teacher Wednesday. He was suspended without pay.

Joey Lehrman, 22, of 701 N. Salcedo St., New Orleans, was booked with obscenity and taken to the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. He was expected to be released from custody late Thursday on $5,000 bond.

Lehrman is an English teacher at L.W. Higgins High School on Lapalco Boulevard, said Beth Branley, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson Parish public school district. He was hired through the Teach for America program and had worked at the school since August. She said no other complaints have been lodged against him.

According to an arrest report, three students and a substitute teacher saw Lehrman masturbating in his classroom Wednesday about 8 a.m.

When Lehrman was questioned by deputies, he admitted exposing himself, but said he was applying lotion because of a medical condition, according to a news release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. He then admitted that he masturbated, according to the arrest report. Lehrman has no prior criminal record, according to authorities.

Lehrman's arrest shocked parents who arrived to pick up their children Thursday, with many of them saying they were unaware that anything had happened.

Parent Roy Ashworth, who was waiting to pick up his son, said he might consider home schooling his teenager next year. Ashworth said that during the first week of school, his son told him that authorities found a gun at the school, and students were forced to enter through metal detectors. Not only are Lehrman's actions disturbing, Ashworth said, but the school's failure to notify parents is troubling.

"If I would have known about it, my son wouldn't be coming to school," Ashworth said.

Parent Anna Nimenibo agreed that the school did a poor job of notifying parents about the arrest. She said she learned about it after her daughter sent her a text message Thursday. The teenager wanted to come home early because she heard rumors that Lehrman had purposely exposed himself to a female student. Nimenibo said she discounted her daughter's account at first, but now she thinks it might be true.

"She was scared to go to school, but I told her to go to school," Nimenibo said. "What kind of teacher would do something like that in front of the students? ... He's sick if he would do that in school.

Branley said the school system does not have a written policy to notify parents because incidents that require notification happen infrequently. She also said the system's collective bargaining agreement along with state and federal regulations prevent it from disclosing certain personnel matters.

Branley could not confirm or deny Ashworth's claims about a gun being found on the Higgins campus early this year.