Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 'Bad' Teachers Accused of Shocking Sex Crimes

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

They were trusted to teach, protect, and guide — instead, prosecutors say they crossed unthinkable lines. Court documents and shocking bodycam video lay bare some of the most disturbing teacher cases of 2025. Prosecutors allege a fifth-grade teacher secretly had a child with a 13-year-old student, an elementary school music teacher exchanged more than 30,000 messages with an 11-year-old, and a juvenile detention tutor tried to orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot while abusing a student. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber takes you inside the cases exposing how authority, trust, and access were allegedly weaponized — and how the justice system finally caught up.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A teacher who allegedly had a child with a 13-year-old student, another teacher accused of sending more than 30,000 messages to an 11-year-old, a prison tutor, prosecutors say, tried to hire a hitman. These cases aren't anomalies. They represent some of the most serious alleged breaches of trust that we've seen classrooms this year. We are examining the court records, the body cam, the criminal filings

behind some of the most disturbing teacher cases of 2025. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Now, here's the truth about something before we get into all this. Honestly, I don't even think we'd be able to put these episodes together if it wasn't for the incredible support that we get from our sponsors like Morgan and Morgan. Okay, this is America's largest personal injury law firm. I want to talk about them because this is a firm with over a thousand attorneys who have recovered $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. Look, in the past few months, we're talking about a client in Florida that received $12 million when insurance offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, another client was awarded $26 million that is 40 times

the insurers offer. And Morgan and Morgan, they make it easy to fight for what you deserve. You can even start a claim from your phone. So if you're injured, you can start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. You can click the link below or you can scan the QR code on screen. So over the last year, we have seen case after case after case that makes you question, who are you leaving your kids with for eight hours a day? Teachers, they're supposed to be protectors, right? Mentors, safe adults.

But in these stories that we're about to go over, became the exact opposite. We're not talking about some sort of lapse in judgment or a single bad decision. We are talking about what prosecutors have alleged in all of these cases calculated long-term patterns of abuse, manipulation, and predatory behavior. From a secret baby to hidden Snapchat messages to a murder for hire plot that was apparently hatched behind bars, the details are honestly hard to believe. But the court documents, this is what they allege.

And we're going to take you inside the evidence that left investigators, the public, and I will tell you me myself, as I covered on the show, stunned. So first up, this is a case that sounds like a twisted soap opera, but unfortunately, it is tragically real. It starts in a quiet New Jersey town with a fifth grade teacher and a family who trusted her with everything. We're going to Middle Township, New Jersey. Laura Karen was a fifth grade teacher at a public elementary school there.

Teacher there for over 10 years. By all accounts, she was trusted. And the story broke in maybe the most modern way possible through a viral social media post. According to the criminal complaint in this case, it began like this. Quote, on December 12th, 2024, the middle township school superintendent, Dr. Salvo, reported to Officer Runyon of the MTPD. He received an anonymous tip a teacher may have had a sexual relationship with a student. The teacher was identified as Laura Karen. This came from a Facebook post made by

the student's father on December 12, 2024, which indicated Karen's five-year-old child, SC, looks very similar to him and his son, J.M. Jr. Yeah, so the father was essentially accusing Karen of being the mother of his son's child. And that post seemingly triggered or sparked or furthered the investigation. Police interviewed the father, who detailed an almost unbelievable living situation, that Karen was the victim's teacher, that the family befriended her. They allowed their children, including the victim, to stay at her place. The complaint states, J.M. Senior explained that it began with one or two nights a week, and eventually the children stayed with Karen permanently from 2016 to 2020. Now, picture the scene, okay, that was

described by the boy's sister to police. It's detailed in the same document. Quote, AM explained the children would sleep in a shared room on the second floor, but notice the victim would not be in his bed the next morning and would be sleeping in bed with Karen. AM stated victim would shower in the first floor bathroom while the other children would shower in the second floor bathroom. A.M. also noticed when the victim would shower, Karen would enter the bathroom and lock the door. Now, police that this sexual abuse started in 2016 when the boy was just 11 years old. It allegedly continued for years. The victim apparently told investigators that he believed Karen would have

sex with him twice a week. But this story has a twist that separates it from almost any other. And that's that in 2019, Laura Karen had a baby boy. And at the time, her alleged victim was 13 years old. So for years, this was apparently a hidden secret. But it turns out it was the sister who apparently provide a police with a digital key to the case. The complaint notes AM also provided a screenshot of a text conversation she had with the victim where he admits he is the father of SC and requests her not to tell anyone because he does not want Karen to get in trouble. The victim's mother also told police that her son admitted he was the dad. But here's where it gets even more complicated. The alleged victim, so now what, 20 years old, spoke to the Daily Mail and he claimed he was the one

who started everything, that he wasn't groomed and said, if it was up to me, she wouldn't have been in jail. Now, despite that, the evidence-led prosecutors to charge Laura Karen with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child. She pleaded not guilty. Her attorney previously back in January of 2025 indicated that there was no DNA evidence proving his client's child is the son of her former student. But the prosecution's case is seemingly built on a mountain of evidence from the complaint. The father's Facebook post, the permanent living arrangements, the sister's eyewitness account, the text screenshot, the mother's statement, the stunning biological timing of a child born when her accuser was 13.

The Laura Karen, she's innocent until proven guilty. She was able to post bail, currently awaiting her next court date. But you have this, you know, apparent secret baby, a victim or alleged victim living in his purported abuser's home, the case feels like it exists in its own kind of dark universe, but you know what the thing is? The theme of a teacher allegedly exploiting insane levels of trust to get to a child, that tragically is not unique. That takes us to our next case. We go to the Midwest to a small elementary school in Wisconsin. And the evidence here wasn't a hidden pregnancy. It was hidden in plain sight in the palm of her hand. Over 30,000 messages. We're going to set the scene. Rivercrest Elementary School in Hudson, Wisconsin.

Madison Bergman was a 24-year-old teacher here in the 2023-2020-4 school year. She was engaged to be married, by the way, and her student was an 11-year-old boy in her class. The story erupts on May 1st, 2024. That is when the boy's parents arrive at the school with printed screenshots from their son's phone. And the texts are between him and Madison. The principal immediately pulls Bergman from class, and by the end of that day, Bergman is in a police interview room, and she admits that she gave the boy her number during a snowboarding trip with his family over winter break. She claims he called her four or five times for, quote, no reason.

And when the detective asks about the text messages, this is when she apparently lawyers up. So the school, they search her belongings, and in her backpack, they find a folder with the boy's name on it and it is filled with handwritten notes and drawings. So then the boy is interviewed and he describes the first kiss in the classroom after school with Bergman. Says it happened many times after that. He talks about the daily notes. Based on this, Bergman is arrested the same day. May 1st, 2024. She's initially charged with first degree child sexual assault, sexual contact with a child under 13. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Because as police forensically examined the phones, the scale of the communication became quite clear. Prosecutors filed an amended complaint

with additional charges. We're talking 10 charges. We're talking crimes like first degree child sexual assault, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, child enticement with a mandatory lifetime supervision modifier, counts of sexual misconduct by school staff for specific dates of misconduct. And the core of the case was in the data. Police said that they're investigation revealed over 30,000 messages exchanged between the teacher and her 11-year-old student. The initial shock of the case, that was just the beginning. Because when prosecutors filed the amended criminal complaint, that expanded the case from just a single horrific act to a pattern of calculated systemic abuse. This document that was built on a mountain of digital evidence and

the victim's testimony, it detailed a secret digital world that the teacher created with her student. So I want to walk you through what this document reveals. Okay, first, consider just the staggering volume of private communication, okay? A forensic examination revealed more than 35,000 text messages exchanged between the 24-year-old teacher and her 11-year-old student. That number 35,000, it represents a constant, all-consuming, secret life that existed alongside the school day. The content was explicitly romantic and sexual. In one exchange, highlighted by investigators, the boy texted ha-ha, bro, I just want to make out with you. Bergman replied, I do too, like all the time.

She continued, also today, when you said, I know you're mad, but I want to kiss you, oh my gosh, I wanted to grab your face and just push you to the floor and make out with you. And when we talk about a massive digital footprint, it makes sense why she's charged with use of a computer to facilitate a child's sex crime. It's a felony that carries a mandatory minimum prison term. But you also have this search of Bergman's computer, revealed, nearly three dozen emails between them. The complaint then tied specific acts of misconduct to precise dates leading to these

five new counts of sexual misconduct by school staff. And the victim described how Bergman engineered opportunities for contact, that during, quote, independent reading time she would rub his thigh and leg. He believed other students couldn't see because Bergman had moved his desk directly next to hers, so arguably a premeditated act that provided counts. camouflage. And the complaint detailed that first kiss. Quote, when the other kids left the classroom, she approached him and kissed him on the mouth. He described himself as sitting on the ground immediately after the kiss as he couldn't believe that it happened and the fact

it was his first kiss. So beyond the digital realm, police recovered all of these handwritten notes and love letters and drawings exchanged between Bergman and the boy all kept in a folder in her classroom. And maybe the most psychologically revealing piece of evidence was this. this note that Bergman herself wrote, because even as she engaged in the abuse, a part of her acknowledged that this was wrong. She wrote, one of my cousins is in the fifth grade, and I can't imagine a man talking to her how we talk. I know we have a special relationship, and I do love you more than anyone in the world, but

I have to be the adult here and stop. By the way, she had a fiancé, and she wrote those words of self-awareness, but according to the charges, she didn't stop. Faced with this overwhelming evidence, the tens of thousands of messages, the victim's clear count, her own written words, the path forward culminated in a courtroom in September of 2025. Ms. Bergman is going to enter police of guilty to count three, child enticement. There is a lifetime supervision of serious sex offenders. Enhance her on that at this time. She's also admitting to that.

Count six, sexual misconvict by school staff, and count eight, sexual. misconduct by school staff. Based on those police, the state is moving to dismiss but read in all of the other counts for purposes of sentencing. We are jointly recommending a PSI be done and the state is to cap their in-custody recommendation at 12 years at the time of sentencing. And Ms. Bergman, do you understand what's proposed? I do. Would you stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn by the clerk? Do you swear that the testimony are about to give in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing about the truth, so I'll help you God. I do. You're going to have to speak up. Yes. Okay, have a seat. Thank you. Bring that microphone up close to this, so that way I can hear you and everyone else can, okay? Yeah.

Thank you. Okay. So first of all, with regard to counts three, six, and eight in the amended information, which are a child enticement with wife, with white crime supervision the serious sex offenders sexual misconduct by school or staff or volunteer and sexual misconduct by school staff or volunteer they are class d and class i felonies the latter two um what is your plea today guilty all right in order for the court to consider whether to accept your guilty plea i need to ask you some questions so first of all is

Did you complete this plea questionnaire and waiver of rights with your lawyer? I did. And is this your signature and your lawyer's signature on the second page? It is. Now, did you have a chance to talk to Mr. Camberino about the plea questionnaire? Yes. Did you get all your questions answered? I did.

So she was taken into custody, sobbing to await a sentencing where prosecutors would seek up to 12 years in prison. And by the time Madison Bergman returned to court for sentencing on December 9. the outcome was no longer in doubt. The emotion in the room was unmistakable. Local reporters inside the courtroom said that Bergman began crying as soon as she entered. When the judge confirmed that she would be going to prison, her composure broke completely. While we are here today and are extremely frustrated and concerned about these facts and this case and the terrible impact of its happen, I also have have to be mindful that there are cases even more extreme with defendants who have long

records of that kind of behavior. And in that life, I think that a more appropriate sentence and the sentence that I will hand down here today is I'm going to order that Ms. Burtman be incarcerated in the Wisconsin State Prison System for six years. and that she served six years on extended supervision thereafter. That's on count three. With regard to counts six and eight, I'm going to order one and a half years of incarceration on each. That's the maximum sentence. and two years of extended supervision on each.

And I am going to run all of this concurrent. I think essentially the outcome is. Six years in the state prison, six years of extended supervision, is an appropriate sentence Because everything I've heard here today, I've discussed with you. Ms. Bergman, you're going to have to call him down for a minute because I have to give you some more. So Bergman was sentenced to six years in state prison, followed by six years of extended supervision once she's released. That supervision apparently comes with strict conditions.

She's barred from any contact with the victim of the victim's family. She's barred from having any contact with anyone under the victim. to the age of 18 unless she receives prior approval from her supervising officer. Just a wild case. So if the first two cases were about exploiting trust, right, or allegedly exploiting trust, our next story takes a sharp turn into a realm that feels more like a crime thriller. This is about a teacher who allegedly tried to use the very system meant to rehabilitate to commit the ultimate crime.

We're going to Kentucky, where Elena Barton, 27 years old, this teacher, was working at the Adair County Juvenile Detention Center. But according to prosecutors, she wasn't there teaching. No. They alleged she started a sexual relationship with a teenage inmate in her class. And court documents claim that she sent him explicit photos and engaged in sexual contact with him. And as explained by the Kentucky State Police, quote, the Adair Juvenile Detention Center conducted a routine search of juvenile's living units

where letters and explicit material were found in a male juvenile's possession sent by an Adair County school teacher assigned to the facility, the detention center immediately confiscated the material. This is where it gets more sinister. The prosecutors claim that that relationship became the foundation for a murder for hire plot. They allege that Barden, who was apparently married, solicited that same inmate to kill her husband. The case exploded when the shocking body cam video from her arrest came out. And Barden, you know, remains kind of eerily calm. She seemed casually asking the officer to call her husband to tell him that she's been arrested, seemingly more concerned about her car being impounded than the charges that she was facing. I've been arrested.

I'll let you know that you've been arrested. Sure. And then obviously you need to reach out to him through the jail, okay? Okay. And then just, again, he knows me. I know him. You can just tell. And he'll never be there in the jail.

I don't have that. Like, I have a card in my car. Okay, I'll get it. You're working. I mean, like, right now. Just keep on. I don't want to get something out of my brain. Okay.

Is this okay? She asked for her driving? Yeah, okay? She asked for her driving? Yeah, okay. You let him hold that point. Hey, your mom's, your mom's good to take the car, right? Your parents are good to take the car. That's taking the car?

Yeah, when we're done with it, we're going to turn it over to you guys. We just want to make you have a drive and so there's also. Yeah. Thank you. You can put those up. So we're done with this. Yeah. Yeah.

Yep. Thank you. Yep. Do you have anything on you, you're going to have anything on you, you're drawing? No. I think that my turning to bargain. Okay. I'll be here.

We're just going to get this right here. Okay. I guess we're still in here. I guess we're still in here. I need to get it up. I'm going to get it up. You're going to go. Good.

Alright, do you got anything on yesterday and what about? Just my attorney's number in my pocket. Okay, that's right, so you don't have anything you brought on it like that? Just my base. Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna just patch you down on the back of my hand. Okay. Do you have secret? Okay.

Do you have to hang out to you all the day? I don't think so. Oh, I don't think so. He said, you're transporting? Yeah. I don't know. Just serve the warrant and serve the EPA. I'll bring a copy.

That's not. I'm not going to box for it. Please. Yep. And the criminal complaint laid out the formal charges in stark terms. that lasted for months. Quote, the affian states that during August 1st, 2024 through March 27, 2025 in Adair County, Kentucky, the above-named defendant unlawfully committed the offense of solicitation to commit

murder and sexual abuse, first degree and distribution of obscene matter to a minor, when the defendant, Elena Barden, asked solicited juvenile ML to kill her husband and further provided ML with advice on how not to get caught. But the most chilling alleged evidence might be the handwritten letters that police uncovered, allegedly from Barden to the inmate, because these notes purportedly passed in secret show the plot developing in real time. In one, she seemingly tries to manage his expectations while pushing the plan forward, writing quote, okay, call me bleep if you want, thought you were talking about putting a hit on my husband.

I can't give you my ring. I got to make it look like, plus make him feel like we're good. but I won't, unintelligible, it around you. P.S. I'm serious about them cracking down on searches. Be careful. Another letter seemingly contrasts her failing marriage with her obsession. By the way, hinting at a motive. Quote, this was honestly the most time we spent with my husband in a long time. It really solidified for me why the two of us just don't work. I just really missed you all damn day. And in a moment of what I have to imagine prosecutors would have said, it was shocking irony, alleged irony, she writes, quote, also you're out of your mind for unintelligible, poisoning my

husband, I get nervous when I go out that I'm going to come home, someone has killed him. So at trial, the prosecution presented all of this. Now, here's what the jury found. There was a caveat, okay? She was convicted of one count each of first-degree sexual abuse and lawful transaction with a minor and distribution of obscene material to a minor, but she was acquitted of solicitation to commit murder. She was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison

as a result of what she was convicted of. Now, our final case takes us back into an elementary school, but the alleged pattern of behavior that we're about the detail is so sprawling, so brazen, that it pushes the boundaries of belief. This isn't about a single victim or a secret relationship. This is the story of a teacher's aide who was accused of systematically targeting multiple young boys in her orbit.

We go to Silver Lake, Wisconsin. Anna Marie Crocker, 33 years old, was a full-time educational assistant at Riverview Elementary School. Her job was to, you know, support kids, to help them feel safe. But according to a devastating criminal complaint, she did the exact opposite. You see, the first alarm bell rang in October of 2024, when police were called to a home after all these rumors started swirling at a local high school about Crocker and a student. A 13-year-old boy, we're going to call him ZG, sat down with deputies and told a harrowing story

about a sleepover that apparently happened months earlier at Crocker's house. He said he fell asleep on a basement couch and woke up to find Crocker who was naked on top of him and sexually assaulting him. He told police he repeatedly told her to get off, tried to push her away, but to no use. Other kids at the sleepover apparently came downstairs and saw her run and hide. But that was just the start. As detectives began to dig, more boys started coming forward with eerily similar stories. Another 13-year-old said that Crocker had added him on Snapchat and sent him videos of her performing a sex act,

which he, by the way, initially thought was a workout video. A 14-year-old boy alleged that she sexually assaulted him in a parking lot. And maybe most brazenly, the complaint details how Crocker added a 16-year-old boy on Snapchat just one day before her arrest immediately turning the conversation sexual and trying to arrange for him to come to her house. But she would be taken into custody. The school district fired her immediately. The charges piled up.

First degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement, child sexual exploitation, second-degree sexual assault. There were more. And the case entered a lengthy legal process, which included, by the way, a mental competency exam. And for months, it seemed that it was going to be headed to trial. And then, in a Kenosha County courtroom, everything changed. Faced with seemingly overwhelming digital evidence, Anna Marie Crocker stood before a judge and pleaded guilty. She pleaded guilty to a suite of charges, sexual assault, child enticement, using a computer to facilitate a child

sex crime and the plea meant that she admitted essentially to a pattern of predatory behavior that impacted multiple young lives. But if you go to the criminal complaint against Anna Marie Crocker, it is just a chronological map of a collapsing secret. It begins not with a police call, but in a high school lunchroom. The document shows the first official police response was triggered by a parent's call. A deputy was dispatched to a Twin Lakes home after a father reported his 13-year-old son had been, quote, forced to have sex with the mother of his friend. That friend's mother was Anna Crocker. The boy, again, who we're calling Z.G., told the deputy about a sleepover the previous

winter at Crocker's house. He described falling asleep on a basement couch and waking up to a nightmare. Quote, while asleep on the couch, he was woken up by the defendant who was naked. The defendant had removed ZG's pants and was on top of him. But the complaint reveals also mounting pressure, how Zigi's mother had gotten. a frantic text from another mom. Her son had been confronted at school by a girl yelling about him having sex with Crocker. And this boy then tells the mom that Crocker had been inappropriate with him and ZG. So when ZG's parents asked ZG point blank, did something

happened here, he apparently clammed up and then became physically sick. His mother found him dry heaving in the bathroom. And he finally admitted, quote, I thought I would never have to think about it again and said that Crocker had sex with him and it was not consensual. The next day, during a forensic interview, Zigi wrote down the graphic act that he was forced to perform. He also revealed that months later, Crocker had texted him demanding he, quote, apologized to her for what happened in the basement and warning him not to tell anyone. Now, simultaneously, the school resource officer spoke to another boy, JPF. So this is the one that was confronted at lunch by that girl. JPF disclosed that Crocker had sexually

assaulted him in a parking lot in August and that they had exchanged explicit chats and pictures for a long time. Then you go to October 10th. Police were called to a third home. Another 13-year-old boy, CPW, had reported receiving inappropriate material from Crocker on Snapchat. He told investigators she sent a video that he initially thought was a workout video. he clicked through, didn't respond, and said, I'm too young for that. A forensic search of Crocker's phone data would later confirm that they exchanged 239 messages in just three days. Think about that. And the investigation really reached its tipping point with digital evidence.

Police examining Crocker's phone found this hidden folder, and inside was a video of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. And crucially, Crocker admitted to detectives that she had saved this. video and sent it to another student. This moved the case from just an allegation to tangible evidence of possession of child pornography. And by the way, her Snapchat data showed that she had added a 16-year-old boy, SDW, on October 9th, 2024. So the day before her arrest, those messages quickly turned sexual. Crocker asking if he wanted to have sex, making plans for him to come to her house that weekend. She was in custody before the meeting could happen, thank goodness. But faced with this avalanche of evidence, multiple corroborating victims, her own admissions,

the digital trail of child pornography and messages and solicitation, the defense seemingly had little ground to stand on. The complaint laid out a clear, multi-victim pattern of predatory behavior, and in court the path chosen was not a trial, but a guilty plea to the most serious charges. This included first-degree child sexual assault, child sexual exploitation, and she is going to be sentenced in February 26. That is all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast.

You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. episodes of this long crime series ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.