Troopers from the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations – Special Victims Unit (SVU) arrested a Thibodaux man on Thursday after an investigation revealed that he forwarded lewd photographs of a former US Army coworker in an apparent blackmail attempt, according to Sgt. Jared L. Sandifer, Louisiana State Police.
Jimmy M. Kassis, 26, was placed under arrest as a result of the investigation. Kassis was a former Louisiana State Police Cadet, but his employment was terminated in June 2018 immediately upon LSP learning of an active US Army investigation regarding him, stated Sandifer.
The initial LSP SVU investigation began on June 5, 2018, when LSP was contacted by the United States Army in reference to an ongoing investigation they were conducting. The US Army investigation involved Kassis, who at the time was a Cadet attending the LSP Training Academy that began on May 27. The US Army investigation revealed that in February 2018 Kassis, formerly employed with the Army, allegedly mailed nude images of the victim to the victim’s US Army General. The US Army also determined Kassis was in the process of sending the same images to the victim’s supervisor at a separate place of employment, according to Sgt. Jared Sandifer. It is believed the images were sent in order to blackmail the victim.
Upon learning of the US Army investigation into Kassis, Investigators with Louisiana State Police SVU opened an investigation. SVU Investigators obtained and executed search warrants on Kassis’ cell phone and residence in Thibodaux. Several electronic devices were seized and forensically examined, according to investigators. On August 6, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Kassis in Lafourche Parish charging him with nonconsensual disclosure of a private image. At this point, however, investigators learned that Kassis had fled Louisiana.
On August 31, police officers in Van Buren Township, Missouri contacted LSP SVU investigators advising that they had arrested Kassis for the outstanding warrant. On September 14, Kassis was extradited back to Louisiana by LSP personnel with the assistance of Michigan State Police. Kassis was booked into the Lafourche Parish prison for the outstanding warrant.
