Pine Prairie mayor accused of alleged sexual harassment

PINE PRAIRIE — Pine Prairie Mayor Terry Savant has been accused of alleged sexual harassment.
Savant was absent from Thursday night’s very brief village meeting, and longtime Chief of Police L.C. Deshotel revealed why that was after the completion of the meeting.
Deshotel provided The Ville Platte Gazette with a Pine Prairie Police Department Offense Report regarding an incident involving Savant and Pine Prairie Town Hall employee Kristan Bordelon.
In the report written by Officer Joshua Estes, it states the following: “On April 28, 2016, Kristan Bordelon, an employee of Pine Prairie Town Hall, came to me in the office and asked if I could give her some advice on a sexual harassment. Mrs. Bordelon was visually upset, so I told her to come to my office so we could talk. Mrs. Bordelon advised me that a few days earlier, Terry Savant, the Mayor of Pine Prairie called her into his office on Friday, April 8, 2016 and told her “HE THOUGHT HE WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH HER.” Mrs. Bordelon also stated that on Monday, April 11, 2016, Mr. Savant told her that “HE WAS SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO HER” and that “HE THINKS ABOUT HER DAY AND NIGHT.”
Estes continues to report that Bordelon stated “she confronted Mr. Savant and asked him to just leave her alone except what pertained to work but he continued to call her during off hours with things that did not pertain to work.”
In his report, Estes further writes “I advised Mrs. Bordelon that she could confront Mr. Savant again and advise him that she would contact the Ethics Board if he did not stop, or she could go ahead and contact the Ethics Board and file a formal complaint.”
Estes writes that Bordelon informed that Savant said he would stop the harassment but that he was still hanging out in the reception area and that had he talked to other employees about talking to her in her office.
Bordelon informed Estes in the report, “that she was tired of Mr. Savant harassing her, but she was scared that she could lose her job. I advised her that she could talk to the City Council. Mrs. Bordelon stated that she had recordings of Mr. Savant harassing her.”
Estes states that he informed the council members of the incident, who opted to wait to see if Bordelon would file a formal complaint. A few days later after another incident, Bordelon wrote a letter to the council and council man Quint West, who serves as Mayor Pro-Temp of Pine Prairie, took the letter to the village’s attorney Greg Vidrine. After further discussion, involving Deshotel, a resolution was formed following a phone conversation between Vidrine and Savant.
Estes states in his report, “Mr. West was on his way home, Mr. Vidrine had called him and stated that Mayor Savant called Mr. Vidrine and stated that if Mrs. Bordelon would file a complaint against Mayor Savant, Mayor Savant would no longer come to the office but finish his term as Mayor and then not run for re-election. Mrs. Bordelon agreed only if Mayor Savant would stop going to people and telling them lies about her.”
Mayor Pro-Temp West and the rest of the council members said Thursday evening that they were unable to comment on the investigation.
Chief Deshotel expressed frustration on Friday because he was out of the loop about the incident, especially considering it involved his god child.
“I got mad about it,” Deshotel said on Friday. “She went to Josh about it but she should have came to me. She didn’t want me to find out and he didn’t tell me. I got aggravated with the deal because it kept me in the dark.”
No charges have been filed against Savant at press time.
The qualifying period for the November 8th general election, which will include the Pine Prairie Mayoral Race, is July 20-22.