Student at Vandebilt Catholic High in Houma charged with hate crime in racist bullying incident

A 15-year-old ninth-grader at Vandebilt Catholic High was arrested on a hate crime charge Tuesday in connection with a racist bullying incident last week in the Houma school's cafeteria, authorities said.

The student was charged with simple battery and hate crime and was booked into the Terrebonne Parish juvenile detention center, Sheriff Tim Soignet said in a news release.

A video of the incident surfaced Wednesday on social media showing a white male student throwing cotton at a Black male student who is seated in the cafeteria. The white student then whips the Black student with what appears to be a small belt.

Soignet said detectives worked around the clock to secure an arrest.

“I’m very pleased that the school took a front stand on this,” the sheriff said Wednesday. “When we received the complaint, we immediately put our detectives on it. They worked through the weekend so we could get to this point and effect an arrest on that juvenile. I’m sad for everyone involved and my officers did a good job handling it and working with the school to get this case to where it is now.”

More: Vandebilt Catholic High School investigating reported racist bullying incident

A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux declined to comment about the arrest Wednesday and said he was not able to discuss student disciplinary matters.

Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin praised school officials and police for their swift response.

“Vandebilt Catholic High School’s administration and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office sent a strong message to the community that this type of crime will not be tolerated,” Boykin said Wednesday. “The young man is only 15 years of age, and I hope that he can learn from his mistake.”

Vandebilt officials said earlier that they were also investigating.

“School officials are working in cooperation with diocesan officials, students and parents to investigate this matter and are committed to ensuring that all individuals involved are held accountable in accordance with school policies,” the school said.

Vandebilt Catholic President Jeremy Gueldner said the school does not tolerate bullying or racism.

The parents of the victim in the incident, Robert and Brandi Sandolph, also issued a joint statement last week thanking the community for its support.

“We are pleased that the administrators are working with us during the investigation of this incident," the parents said last week.

They could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said it also received a complaint last week about the video.

“The video that appears to be racially motivated was allegedly recorded at a local high school during school hours,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “TPSO detectives met with the parents of the victim and an investigation is being conducted. The parents of the victim also met with the school’s administration and they are diligently assisting the parents with addressing this non-acceptable episode.”

Because the case involved juveniles, certain steps had to be taken during the investigation, Soignet said.

“It’s not as simple as watching the video and making an arrest,” he said. “We wanted to do a very thorough investigation, and that’s what they were able to do. When you’re dealing with juveniles, it’s a different challenge all on its own. It’s not like dealing with adults.”

Soignet said the case is still an active investigation.

“This was not right and I think everyone who saw the video can agree to that,” Soignet said. “My office is always going to do the right thing. That’s why we worked through the weekend to get to this point. This case is not closed, and we’re still looking at things."

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Vandebilt Catholic High student charged in racist bullying incident