Mike Yenni was the President of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. In 2016, he was exposed for sending texts to a teen he saw at a high school event. Despite the scandal, he served his full term and is now returning to government eight years later, like Trump, relying on partisan loyalty overwhelming moral objections to child predators.
A mutual friend gave Yenni the youth’s contact info and Yenni began texting him and chatting with him. He then met the youth at the mall where the teen worked, gave him some designer underwear, and kissed him.
In the texts, he talked to the teen about the underwear and asked for sex. Yenni was forty and the boy was seventeen. He asked the youth for a three-way sex act with their mutual friend and suggested the boy intern for him so they could be together without any questions asked. The teen was uncomfortable and came forward when he was nineteen.
Yenni admitted sending the texts, but he was not prosecuted as the age of consent in Louisiana is seventeen. However, for federal law prohibits using a phone to make an obscene request to someone under eighteen.
The FBI investigated but did not pursue the matter. There was also an effort to investigate whether he had done something similar with a youth group he worked with. They reached out to prior members and most returned their calls saying nothing happened. This resulted in misleading headlines claiming Yenni was “cleared” of improper contact.
Despite this history, he was appointed chief deputy registrar returning him to Jefferson Parish government.
- WWL: FBI looks into JP President Mike Yenni’s allegedly explicit texts to young man
- WWL: It’s official: Disgraced former Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni returns to government Monday
- NOLA: Mike Yenni denies sexual contact with teenager, admits sending texts
Author/Byline: CHAD CALDER and Ramon Antonio Vargas
