ST. MARTINVILLE — A former public school teacher charged with molesting a boy in the juvenile detention center here pleaded guilty to reduced charges and avoided jail time.

But a lawyer for the St. Martinville man maintained his client’s innocence and said he pleaded guilty to avert an expensive and lengthy trial “that would have an adverse effect on a lot of people.”

Luther Frederick, 68, 225 Washington St., pleaded guilty in 16th Judicial District Court to malfeasance in office and attempted obscenity. Frederick received a suspended sentence but was placed on three years supervised probation and ordered to perform 98 hours of community service.

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Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars, who prosecuted Frederick, said the charges did not warrant jail time and described the terms of the plea agreement as justified. He noted the boy’s family was in “complete agreement” with the plea.

“We would not have confected any sort of plea negotiations without the victim’s family’s complete approval,” Cedars said.

The plea agreement revealed several new details about the case. The St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office this spring refused to say why they charged Frederick and deferred comment to the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on the day of the arrest.

Prosecutors said Frederick discussed masturbation with the boy over several months and exposed himself to victim. On at least one occasion, prosecutors said, Frederick touched the outer clothing of the boy’s genital area.

Cedars said investigators installed a camera in Frederick’s office in response to the boy’s allegations. But the recording device never captured any of the behavior the boy described over a two-week period, Cedars said.

A call to Frederick’s house Monday evening was not answered.

Frederick, who worked several years in St. Martin Parish public schools, resigned his post in January, retiring for the second time. He was arrested Feb. 10 and released on $25,000 bond.

Cedars said the plea agreement is carefully worded to reflect an admission on Frederick’s part to the boy’s allegations. But Frederick’s defense lawyer Allan L. Durand of Lafayette offered a different interpretation of the plea agreement, and said his client only admitted the state’s witnesses would have testified to the facts of the case outlined in the plea deal.

Durand said he would have preferred an acquittal in the case, adding he has serious doubts the state’s evidence would have resulted in a conviction.

The boy who made the allegations has “an extraordinarily troubled past” and is not a credible source, Durand contended. But Durand tempered his comments in a phone interview by pointing out his longtime friendship with Frederick.

“I’m his lawyer and I’m his friend,” Durand said. “I’m not an unbiased observer.”

Durand said Frederick is relieved to have the charges behind him.

“It’s a hell of a thing to have hanging over your head,” Durand said.