Trey Sparks
Introduction
Trey Sparks is a former Louisiana teacher and coach who was arrested on October 6, 2026, on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and prohibited sexual contact between an educator and a student, after parents found alarming messages between their child and a coach and went to police. Sparks, 30, taught at DC Reeves Elementary School and coached at Ponchatoula Junior High School in Tangipahoa Parish, and previously taught at Maurepas School in neighboring Livingston Parish, where deputies say the underlying conduct stretches back to 2023-2024. He was no longer employed by the Tangipahoa Parish school system after his arrest and has since been charged with additional counts as more suspected victims were identified.
Background Information
Sparks worked across two Louisiana parishes: Livingston Parish Schools said he taught at Maurepas School from 2021 to 2024, resigning in October 2024 to pursue “other opportunities” related to employment with another district, after which he joined the Tangipahoa Parish School System as a DC Reeves Elementary teacher and Ponchatoula Junior High coach. The case began, police say, with parents — Ponchatoula Police were contacted by concerned parents who located alarming messages between a juvenile and a coach with the Tangipahoa Parish School System. Police seized devices belonging to Sparks in late September and found victims in Livingston Parish.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, presumption of innocence. Sparks faces multiple felony counts across two parishes; the charges are accusations, no conviction has been entered, and he has not publicly responded in the available record.
According to arrest documents dated September 14, Sparks was messaging a player he used to coach in middle school on Snapchat starting in late August, and in early September invited the former player to a church event and to a fitness gym. Ponchatoula Police Chief Bry Layrisson said his department received the initial complaint around September 13, then obtained search warrants for Sparks’ Snapchat accounts and, on that evidence, for his electronic devices.
Sparks was arrested October 6 on four counts of possessing child sexual abuse material depicting victims under the age of 13 and one count of prohibited sexual contact between an educator and a student. The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office booked him late the following Wednesday on molestation of a juvenile, two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, one count of computer solicitation of a minor, one count of sexual battery, one count of possession of CSAM, one count of production of CSAM and prohibited sexual conduct between educator and student. Sheriff Jason Ard said more charges were expected as possible victims are identified, and officials said they narrowed the timeframe of the alleged criminal activity in Livingston Parish to 2023-2024, when Sparks was employed at Maurepas School. “Best that we can tell right now is when he started employment at Maurepas high school, up till at least last year at Ponchatoula Jr. High,” Layrisson said.
On October 15, Ponchatoula police added an additional count of prohibited sexual contact between an educator and a student along with indecent behavior with juveniles, after a second suspected victim was discovered; the new arrest was pending his release from the Livingston Parish Jail.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The Tangipahoa Parish School System placed Sparks on administrative leave during the investigation and then severed him entirely — Superintendent Melissa Martin Stilley confirmed after the arrest that he was no longer employed with the school system. The case has circulated in the Ponchatoula community as a coaches-and-parents story: it was parents checking a child’s phone, not an institution’s audit, that started the chain that ended in a multi-parish criminal file. Both school districts involved — Tangipahoa and Livingston — issued public statements about his employment history, an unusual double disclosure that extended the record of where Sparks had worked with children.
Current Status
Sparks is charged in Tangipahoa Parish with four counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and prohibited sexual contact between an educator and a student, plus the October 15 additions of another prohibited-sexual-contact count and indecent behavior with juveniles, and in Livingston Parish with molestation of a juvenile, indecent behavior, computer solicitation of a minor, sexual battery, and possession and production of CSAM. No trial date or plea appears in the available record, the investigation remains open with the sheriff expecting further charges, and he is no longer employed by any school system.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Sparks’ years spanning two parishes are now a defendant’s itinerary: fired from Tangipahoa, booked in Livingston, charged with offenses against children in both, and formally linked in charging documents to the schools where he taught from 2021 onward. The investigation’s expansion from one found conversation to multiple suspected victims across a 2023-2026 span means the case will define his record regardless of outcome, and his additional charges were filed as he stood to be released from the Livingston Parish Jail.
Sources
- WBRZ, “Teacher arrested for alleged sexual relationship with student faces additional charges in Ponchatoula,” October 15, 2026 — source
- WBRZ, “Documents detail messages former Ponchatoula teacher exchanged with former student leading to arrest” — source
- WBRZ, “Teacher who allegedly had sexual contact with student arrested in Tangipahoa, Livingston parishes” — source