By Rajwa Quasim
A former New Orleans high school teacher has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl who had run away from home.
U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk sentenced Aaron Terod Johnson, 38, of New Orleans for sex trafficking a minor and coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution. Johnson will also serve a lifetime term of supervised release and must register under and participate in a sex offender registration and notification program.
According to court documents, Johnson learned through social media that the victim had run away in February 2024. He saved a screenshot of her social media page and contacted her after she was reported missing again in March 2024, when he learned that she was stranded in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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On March 14, 2024, he drove from his home in New Orleans to Vicksburg, where he picked up the 16-year-old and her friend. He told her he would not hurt her because he was a teacher and his students were her age. He returned to New Orleans by backroads and offered the minors alcohol and marijuana. The teen believed he would take them to the home of an acquaintance, but he instead took them to his own home, where he sexually assaulted her. The abuse continued for several weeks.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that Johnson attempted to pay another minor for sex in March and April 2024, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
A federal jury found him guilty in 2025 of sex trafficking of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1591(a)(1) and 1591(b)(2), and coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).
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“As a schoolteacher at the time of his crimes, Johnson knew how vulnerable children are and chose to use that knowledge to exploit a runaway minor instead of protecting her. That kind of calculated abuse of a position of trust is among the most egregious conduct we see in human trafficking and child exploitation cases. While no sentence can undo the trauma he inflicted, I am proud of the tireless commitment of our special agents and law enforcement partners who worked to ensure this predator was brought to justice,” said Matt Wright, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.
U.S. Attorney Courcelle commended the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in investigating the case. The prosecution was led by AUSA Maria M. Carboni, leader of the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force.