Ex-VPPD cop settles civil suit

A settlement was reached on Wednesday in a federal lawsuit against former Ville Platte Police Officer Larry Fontenot, who was accused of forcing two women to expose themselves during an August 2015 roadside encounter.
However, although court filings say that a settlement has been reached, attorney’s from both sides say that the deal’s terms have not been finalized yet.
The August 15th incident that led to these lawsuits involved Fontenot taking pictures of the women’s backsides and making vulgar comments to the women that had pulled over to fix a flat tire.
Fontenot then commanded that the women expose themselves to him, but they ignored his requests at first.
However, after Fontenot threatened to summon a State Police Trooper to arrest one of the women for drunk driving, they chose to comply with the officer’s commands.
According to the lawsuit, Fontenot also threatened the women with pepper spray if they did not adhere to his “deviant sexual demands.”
The suit also stated, “Officer Fontenot relentlessly pursued his deviant sexual requests to the point of following one woman around her vehicle and grabbing her by the arm causing significant bruising.”
There was a third male individual in the vehicle, according to the suit, that also claims to have heard the officer say that he would add the pictures to his “collection.”
One woman involved in the incident filed a complaint against Fontenot after she learned that the officer had shown the women’s photos to other officers.
After the complaint was filed, Fontenot was arrested for extortion and video voyeurism and he resigned from his position with the VPPD.
The City of Ville Platte, VPPD Police Chief Neal Lartigue and Fontenot are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Although this civil suit seems to be taken care of, Fontenot is still awaiting his trial for the criminal charges he faces. For these charges, Fontenot will be represented by attorney Jacob Fusilier.
His trial date has been set for March 6, 2017 in Judge Chuck West’s courtroom.