By LEONARD GRAY

NORCO – The St. Charles Parish sheriff’s deputy who disciplined a 13-year-old boy with a paddle in January at the parish Court School is out of the school system and reassigned to the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center near Killona.

“He’s now at the correctional center,” said Sheriff Greg C. Champagne. “That’s where he still is and that’s where I’m going to leave him for the time being.”

Dianne Jaufre’s son, Ryan, was disciplined by Cpl. Clyde Taylor, leaving the boy with swollen and discolored bruises. Taylor, a 15-year veteran of the department, was placed on paid disciplinary leave awaiting the outcome of the administrative investigation.

Results of that investigation, according to Champagne, were that Taylor broke no criminal laws. The case has been referred to 29th Judicial District Attorney Harry Morel’s office for further review.

“I don’t know what to think,” Dianne Jaufre responded. “It’s not over on my end.”

Ryan Jaufre of Norco, diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a preschooler, was considered a disciplinary problem all his school career. He was sentenced to Court School by District Judge Kirk Granier after an incident last year involving shooting pebbles at a girl with a slingshot. The girl’s mother filed aggravated battery charges, which were reduced to simple battery, and Ryan began at Court School last fall.

However, on Jan. 14, when Dianne Jaufre dropped by the school to drop off his medication, they visited briefly with Taylor and she complained he had been “a real handful” over the weekend.

According to Jaufre, Taylor pointed significantly at his “paddle,” a sawed-off piece of lumber two feet in length, three inches in width and an inch thick with one end wrapped in tape for a more secure grip.

“Assume the position,” Taylor said to Ryan, and as Dianne Jaufre left to deliver her son’s Ritalin to the office at the far end of the building, she could hear her son’s shrieks down the hall.

The boy received five strokes, the last of which was partially blocked by Ryan’s hand, causing an injury to his thumb. A sixth blow came as Ryan was allowed to depart, smacking him on one thigh, Jaufre said.

When Ryan arrived home, he said he was sick to his stomach, and his mother took him to Ochsner Hospital for examination, where the bruises were discovered.

Dianne Jaufre, a former secretary at the St. Charles Parish Correctional Center, reported the incident to the sheriff’s office on Jan. 21. Now, according to Champagne, Taylor will remain assigned as a correctional officer in the parish jail.

Meanwhile, Ryan is back in school at Norco 4-6 Elementary School.

“I’m just having a real hard time with Ryan,” Dianne Jaufre explained. “Nothing’s done.”