YOUNGSVILLE: Celebrated Detective Who Helped Arrest Child Predators Removed

Just two days after Youngsville Chief of Police JP Broussard publicly praised his detectives for arresting alleged child predators, he reassigned the department’s only full-time criminal investigator—the same detective who had just filed a hostile work environment complaint with the City. The sequence raises an obvious question: is Youngsville protecting public safety, or retaliating against the people doing the work?

Chad Boudreaux Arrested

On July 8, 2026, the Youngsville Police Department, with assistance from the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, arrested Youngsville resident Chad Boudreaux. Boudreaux was booked on two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of molestation of a juvenile, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Boudreaux is the latest in a string of roughly a dozen arrests involving alleged child predators, including Drake Bergeron, Yahel Arce Delgado, Glenn Neely, Brett Dronet, Gregory Landry, Guevara Carvajal, Shawn Copeland, and Trevor Gates. Many of those arrests involved the exploitation of a student at Southside High School.

That same week, Chief Broussard complimented his detectives’ work at a public gathering.

At that gathering, he allegedly provided the crowd with information that could reveal the identities of some of the juvenile victims.

Then, on July 9, 2026, Chief JP Broussard appeared on KLFY to discuss the arrest of Chad Boudreaux. During the interview, the Chief credited his detectives for building the case.

“The detectives have a great team of detectives. They followed up on the case and they’re able to get enough probable cause to, in effect, get a warrant…”

JP Broussard further noted that the arrest represented the department’s thirteenth involving alleged child predators in recent months and emphasized that investigators were continuing to pursue additional leads. The public message was clear: Youngsville’s detective unit was performing exceptionally well.

Criminal Investigations Division

The criminal investigations division is remarkably small. It is regularly staffed with only one or two full-time officers. Sgt. Tim Cotone was promoted to the rank of Sergeant last year and tasked with supervising the unit. Detective Tyra Dorsey has been the only full-time investigator assigned to the criminal investigations division. The department has repeatedly highlighted the Criminal Investigations Division on social media, crediting detectives with bringing child predators to justice. But things are changing.

On July 9, 2026, after months of what has been described as a hostile work environment, Detective Dorsey filed a formal complaint with the City of Youngsville. Chief Broussard was notified of the complaint the same day. The following morning, Dorsey was informed that she was being transferred out of the Criminal Investigations Division effective July 13, 2026.

Retaliation Over Public Safety

Removing the division’s only full-time detective is not a routine administrative adjustment. It substantially reduces the investigative manpower of the very unit the Chief had been publicly praising only days earlier.

Further, the order removes personnel essential to the unit’s effectiveness. So what is the reason? Why remove one of the department’s most experienced investigators immediately after she sought relief through the City’s Human Resources process?

The transfer also did not occur in a vacuum. Dorsey has allegedly been subjected to nearly five months of escalating workplace conflict. The issues include repeated disputes over work assignments, grievances, being subjected to frivolous internal investigations and disciplinary actions, and having rumors spread about her by Assistant Chief Kenny Duhon. Dorsey made multiple requests for management intervention before culminating in her formal complaint of a hostile work environment, filed with the City of Youngsville.

One aspect of that chronology is particularly noteworthy. In March of 2026, Dorsey was placed under an Internal Affairs investigation following a complaint by Sergeant Tracy Girard. Less than a month later, the investigation was concluded, and the complaint was determined to be unfounded. Despite Internal Affairs’ conclusion that the complaint was unfounded, Chief Broussard disciplined Dorsey six weeks later, on June 5, 2026. We requested the complete investigative file from Chief Broussard on June 12, 2026; however, he has failed to acknowledge the request or provide the requested documents.

Additional Grievances

At this time, it is unknown whether an appeal has been filed or a hearing has been scheduled before the Youngsville Municipal Civil Service Board. Meeting notices are typically provided only a few days in advance, with the next meeting scheduled for July 29, 2026. At least one investigation by the administration concerning other actions is still pending before the board, while additional complaints alleging election and appointment irregularities, as well as a complaint alleging injury to public records, remain outstanding.

Dorsey also filed a complaint with Chief Broussard regarding false rumors spread about her by Assistant Chief Kenny Duhon. We also requested those records from Chief Broussard, but they are being withheld. Those allegations were ultimately sustained, and Assistant Chief Duhon was allegedly counseled for his actions.

The timeline is very telling. Dorsey raised concerns regarding workplace treatment and management decisions. She followed the department’s grievance process and ultimately sought relief through Human Resources. She found herself investigated, then later disciplined after a finding that the complaint was non-sustained. One day after filing a formal written complaint with the City of Youngsville alleging a hostile work environment, she was removed from her position.

Whether the allegations lodged by Dorsey are ultimately substantiated is a matter for the appropriate processes. What is not disputed is the sequence of events. The detective who was publicly praised for investigating violent crimes against children filed a hostile work environment complaint. Within hours of the Chief learning of that complaint, she was removed from her position.

A Familiar Pattern

The timing illustrates a pattern that has become increasingly familiar inside the Youngsville Police Department. Over the past two years, Citizens for a New Louisiana has documented numerous disputes involving employee discipline, civil service proceedings, criminal misconduct, allegations of retaliation, poor management decisions, and repeated transparency concerns within the department. Those controversies have involved multiple employees — not just Detective Dorsey — which raises repeated questions about whether personnel decisions are driven by legitimate operational needs, internal conflicts, or retaliatory motives rather than sound police administration.

Adding to the concerns is the department’s continued refusal to produce public records relating to Dorsey’s Internal Affairs investigation and grievance against Assistant Chief Duhon. Remember, we requested the investigative file over a month ago. As of this writing, the department has not acknowledged or produced those records. It has flat-out refused to release the grievance record. But in all fairness, it is not just the Dorsey records they have failed to release. In January of 2026, we requested the crime stats of the City of Youngsville. To this day, those records have not been produced.

The Timeline

That investigative file may ultimately answer many of the questions surrounding the discipline imposed against Dorsey. Until then, the public is left with an unavoidable timeline.

• On February 20, Dorsey raised concerns about workplace hostilities with Chief Broussard and Assistant Chief Duhon.
• On March 20, Sgt. Girard lodged a formal complaint against Dorsey, and an investigation was initiated.
• On April 15, Dorsey filed a formal complaint alleging that Assistant Chief of Police Duhon spread false rumors about her to members of the department.
• On April 22, the investigation into Dorsey’s conduct was completed and found to be unsustained.
• On April 30, Dorsey received a response to her complaint concerning Assistant Chief Duhon and was advised that Duhon had been counseled for his actions.
• On June 5, Chief Broussard disciplined Dorsey regarding the unsustained complaint filed by Sgt. Girard on March 20.
• On July 8 and July 9, the Chief again publicly celebrated his detectives’ work.
• On July 9, one of those detectives sought protection through the City’s Human Resources process.
• By the morning of July 10, she had been removed from the very unit the Chief had just described as “a great team of detectives.”

One day, Detective Tyra Dorsey was publicly commended as part of “a great team of detectives” responsible for putting child predators behind bars. The next day, she was removed from the Criminal Investigations Division.

Youngsville residents deserve to know what changed in less than twenty-four hours — and why.

Updates:

A special meeting of the Youngsville Municipal Police and Civil Service Board has been called for July 15, 2026 at 5:00/PM. Listed on the agenda is “Appeal request by Tyra Dorsey.”

An acknowledgment of the June 12, 2026 public records request has now been received. It reads:

I thought I had provided a preliminary response and if I failed to do so, my apologies. I do recall the request and that the request was made within the appeal delays for civil service. It’s my understanding that an appeal has been filed by Ms. Melancon. I just need to check the status on that appeal and will let you know what I find out and procedurally if the records you seek are public record at this time.

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