Heidi Verret
Heidi Verret, 30, from Louisiana, has been accused of having sex with three juveniles and sending 'inappropriate' messages to a 12-year-old Houma Police Department

A teacher from the state of Louisiana in the US has been accused of having sex with three juveniles in her home and sending 'inappropriate' messages to a 12-year-old boy. Heidi Verret, from Houma, around 30 miles south-west of New Orleans, was pictured smiling in her police mugshot despite serious charges of having sexual intercourse with three juveniles and one count of indecent behaviour with a juvenile.

The 30-year-old, a substitute teacher within the Terrebonne School System, could be jailed for up to 55 years if convicted of the four charges.

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The investigating Houma Police Department say that officers uncovered inappropriate social media messages between Verret and a 12-year-old boy. They then discovered that she had sex with three juveniles, according to court documents filed against Verret.

Verret allegedly had sex with three teenagers, aged between 15 and 16, at her home over "several months" and on "multiple occasions". She was arrested on Wednesday 21 December by Houma Police Department officers and taken to the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex.

She was accused on 23 December of three counts of carnal knowledge (sexual intercourse) of a juvenile, and one count of indecent behaviour with a juvenile. Authorities did not reveal if any of Verret's alleged victims were students at the school where she was working as a supply teacher.

The age of sexual consent in Louisiana is 17 and it has not been reported if Verret was sacked from her employment.

Sgt. Travis Theriot, with the Houma Police Department, said to NBC-affiliated WDSU News: "It looks like it spanned over a three-month time period. None of it occurred on a school campus. It all occurred within her home.

"This is a perfect example of why parents need to monitor what goes on, on social media, and if it wasn't for these parents being alert and paying attention to what's going on and following up whenever they hear a piece of information we never would have known and there's no telling how long this would have gone on," Theriot said.