Law&Crime Sidebar - Special Ed Teacher Allegedly Slept with Student, Provided Alcohol to Other Teens

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Ann Margaret Bacon, 24, is no longer employed at a Minnesota high school and faces charges after allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student and providing minors with alcohol. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down the case against her with Minnesota criminal defense lawyer Jack Rice. 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://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest 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/lawandcrime/Twitter: 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.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Another day, another story of a teacher alleged to have sexual relations with a student. This time we have a 24-year-old special education teacher accused of renting out a hotel room to engage in these crimes. We break it all down with criminal defense attorney Jack Rice. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We got another one. Another female teacher accused of having sexual relations with one of her students. I hate to talk about it, but it's just the reality of what we're dealing with here. We're going to go to Minnesota. We're

24-year-old special education teacher and dance team coach, Ann Margaret Bacon, at Harton High School has been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct. This is our understanding to be a felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. Now, she apparently confessed to police that she had sex with an 18-year-old student of hers in a hotel room on five different occasions. Hotel records even confirm the dates that she provided. That's our understanding from the reporting. She's also accused of purchasing alcohol for minors.

Now, the way that she was arrested was interesting because a witness apparently came forward to the school talking about what they saw. Bacon was interviewed about this initially said it wasn't true. Then the teenage boy's girlfriend said she found all of these sexualized text messages and these nude photos exchanged between him and bacon. And there were allegedly pictures of bacon drinking with these minors. Once the school and the school resource officer found out about what was going on, they alerted the police.

This teenage victim said to police that he's in a relationship. relationship with Bacon and even stays at her place, although apparently Bacon says they are no longer dating. A lot to talk about here. Let me bring on Minnesota criminal defense attorney Jack Rice, former prosecutor, former CIA officer. Great to have you on, Jack. What a case to talk about here. What are you just your initial thoughts? Because I cover this kind of cases all the time. Yeah, it always bothers me. You call me when you get the freak show on, right? What can I say? Hey, what can I say?

I mean, it is what it is. I'm your boy for that, is it? Okay, fantastic. Yeah. Well, when we look at these, the problem is the charges are really serious. They really are. When you talk about a felony, third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge just by itself, it's potentially up to 15 years, but it's a presumptive 48 months in prison.

That's a presumption for a charge like this. There's also something else that rolls out of this kind of a charge that most people forget about. If you're convicted in Minnesota of any charge that arises from this, so let's say hypothetically she's even found guilty of child endangerment tied to this and nothing more. She also has to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years. Now remember, he was 18. So he was 18 at the time. This is basically about what's called in Minnesota, a position of authority. because of where she was, because of she was in this position,

we obviously don't want teachers to be perpun on kids. This guy wasn't a kid, but because he was a student, we have decided here that we can't have teachers, rightfully so, perping on anybody who was a student and in a position to look up to this person. So it's a pretty weird one. So in other words, the reason she is charged under this statute, which is usually for these kinds of relations that people would have with minors, you can be charged under this, even though he wasn't a minor,

because of that position of authority. And I'm assuming a teacher is not the only kind of category. Oh, my goodness. Think about this. Police officers, and I've had these experiences, as I told you before, we went on the air, I'm in the middle of a crim sex trial right now. So I'm dealing with these kinds of things constantly. Is this going to be teachers?

This might be lawyers. This might be other church leaders. People like that. People that someone looks up to in society in that sense. Those people are in unique positions. Check this out for just a weird twist. Understand that it's possible that she could have had sex with somebody else who was in that very same position so long as she wasn't in a position of authority.

Let me get weirder with you for just a sec. In Minnesota, the law is so long as you are, not in a position of authority, you have the right, obviously with someone agreeing to this, to have sex with somebody who's 16 or 17 years old here in Minnesota. This is a weird part. Apparently the ex-girlfriend found pictures on his phone. You can have sex with a 16 or 17-year-old so long as you're not in a position of authority. But if you take a picture of it, that's child pornography. So the sex is fine. This is Minnesota. Don't ask me. The sex is fine. This is mind, the documentation of the sex is also a felony, also requires a predatory registration

requirement. 10 years, if they're under 13, it's a lifetime registration. Now, my understanding is, and unless you saw something different, I haven't seen her charge with that. I haven't seen her charged with respect to supplying alcohol to the minors. I mean, as far as I saw, do you think that this is the start of the charges and more could be coming out? Well, I think realistically that CSC three charges coming out specifically because of that position of authority. Frankly, what I would expect, that's the big one anyway. Remember, I mean, this just happened to me. We're starting a trial. They just ramped up the charges right before a jury was impaneled, before a jury was sat. So we'd already chosen them. They just up the charges in this case.

And sometimes what they'll do is they'll add additional charges. I could certainly see a child endangerment charge that could roll out of this. if it hasn't already been added to the complaint here in Minnesota. But the big one, the one that they really wanted right now was that CSC3. I'm in Ramsey County. This took place in Ramsey County. I have been working in this five years. I probably know the people who charged it out and I probably know every player in the room.

And when we think about that, once you get the charge, that is almost all you need to get that ring piece if you get any kind of a conviction, any kind of anything. And I assume that's what's going to happen. The reason I say assume is I wonder, even though she admitted to doing this or allegedly admitted to doing this, if this victim was her student at one point in time, but let's say hypothetically, wasn't her student at the time this sexual conduct happened, does that change the analysis? It might. You know, Jesse, I was thinking about this story, too, and about how I would be defending it. As I mentioned, because I'm in the midst of one of these, I'm sort of in the fight

in my head. And in my mind, my first thought was, when you say position of authority, how? Is it position of authority because it was in her class? Well, my response, okay, that I get it. But what happens if they weren't in the class? What happens if they were just in the school? Is that still a position of authority? Now, I've fought that fight on CSC cases here in Minnesota, and I've lost it, where if you're a teacher, that teacher position, the student position stretches even beyond schools sometimes. It depends upon the judge. But it's possible that you could sever that relationship enough that the position of authority would not apply. And the only thing that makes this the crime, exclude the alcohol for a second, but the only thing that makes this, the crime, exclude the alcohol for a second.

But the only thing that makes this the crime really is that position of authority. If you could sever it, then really what you get is she was having sex with an 18-year-old. Remember, 18-year-old's legal, 17-year-old is legal here. 16-year-old technically is even legal. Weird, there it is. So long as that position of authority does not exist. And I will tell you, I think an about face defense, like, oh, I didn't mean what I was saying. I didn't admit it.

It kind of doesn't work here because, A, it seems to suggest the hotel records line up with the dates that she gave, but also the, you know, she denied supplying alcohol to these teenagers, but then said, oh, yeah, there's this $40 Venmo payment that was labeled L-I-Q-Q, and she had apparently told authorities that she couldn't recall what the payment was for or who it was sent to. but it seems that there is, and we mentioned the photos and the text messages, very hard to argue against this actually being the case. Yeah, it sure is. I can tell you one other aspect of it, you know, as I thought about this, and this is sort of the criminal defense attorney in me. Here is a perfect example. Understand, according to the 18-year-old who may be 19 now, they're dating, and he stays

where there's some of the time. If she had kept, and this came out because of the. ex-girlfriend of him and that seemed to be part of this from a defense attorney perspective do you really think they would have gotten cooperation out of that kid out of the 18 19 year old i doubt it if she had not said a word to the police if she had actually said i have nothing to say without my attorney present they wouldn't have been able to get those statements they may not have been able to get the hotel records all they have is an ex-girlfriend who's saying those two are having sex

and the thing is is this case may never have been charged out as we talk about potential legal liability for something like this. Let me just take a minute to shout out our great partner and sponsor here on Sidebar, Morgan and Morgan. Why? Because the truth is, not all law firms are the same. Not all are created equal. And Morgan and Morgan, the largest personal injury law firm in the entire country. You know why they're so unique. You know why they're so big? Because they win a lot. In the past couple of months, Morgan and Morgan saw a verdicts of $12 million in Florida, $6.8 million in New York, and $26 million in Philadelphia. Mind you, these are considerably higher than the highest insurance offers for these accidents.

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You can start your claim now with Morgan and Morgan by going to for the people.com slash LC sidebar or click the link in the description and pinned in the comments. apparently one of these witnesses had come forward originally months before with saying that she knew of this or this person knew about this relationship but didn't have concrete proof. And the reason I say that to you is this. I'm curious about the liability of the school because Bethany dissent, this is the principal of the high school, sent out a statement to the staff and the students, and it said, quote,

I am writing to inform you of the recent resignation of a tartan teacher and Bacon. We've been informed by local law enforcement that Ann Bacon is being investigated for alleged misconduct. Please be assured that the trust and safety of our students remain our utmost priority. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement's investigation and will continue to do so throughout the process. We understand that this news affects our school community, school counselors, and administrators are available for any students needing support. Now, again, keep that in mind with what I said before, that if you had somebody who came forward to the school originally, I think back in July, but didn't have concrete proof of this

illicit relationship, then comes back and reports Bacon in February, because this person was concerned that Bacon was still teaching. Does the school, did the school have an obligation to do more? I think probably the school could face liability, regardless of them removing her even immediately. I mean, part of this is going to be the idea that they hired her in the first place, you're making the argument that she's essentially, in the broader sense, a pedophile. And did she receive sufficient training? Did they retain her appropriately?

And there's a whole series of questions that come up and the likelihood is technically, if you're gonna sue, they would be suing, and this would be technically the 18 year old, think about that in his family, suing her and the school. So that would not surprise me. There are, this happens constantly, not just in Minnesota, but across the country.

What makes this case slightly different, obviously, is the gender of the teacher. People have this vision in their head of what predators look like, predatory offenders look like. And very simply, we've come to realize that they come in all shapes and sizes and genders. And as a result of that, I think the generalization simply does not work. We talk about that all the time. We talk about that all the time. You know, there's this kind of perception, oh, you know, a young boy. with a female teacher, it is totally wrong.

This is, they are victims. They may not realize the trauma that they're experiencing and what effect this might have on them now, but later on in life, we've seen so many stories about how this affects them. And this is a crime. So we have to be very clear it is a crime. Now, talking about this, I am very curious,

if she were to plead guilty or if she were to take this to trial and be found guilty for this charge, what are we looking at in terms of prison time? You mentioned it a little bit about what the minimum could be, what the maximum could be. What do you think we're looking at here? Well, the max in a case like this is 15 years on SCA criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, and this has to do with that position of authority.

According to the sentencing guidelines in Minnesota, and what they generally look at is they're looking at the seriousness of the charge as well as any criminal record, assuming that she has no criminal record. So she has zero criminal record right now. generally third degree charges, depending upon what it is, is she's likely facing a presumptive 48-month commit to prison. Now, I have to say, thinking about that, that I'm dealing with these kinds of cases constant. I mean, all the time. And one of the problems that I have here, really, in the panoply of criminal sexual conduct charges, does this rise to the level of most

of the others. No, it doesn't. We have an adult. I have 18 year olds I've represented. This guy's age, younger than this guy. I have 16 and 17 year olds getting charged as adults who get charged with rape all the time. And so what we're saying here is somehow he's magically protected and he's the vulnerable victim and he is, but he's not in the sense that that could change how they resolve this case. So what you could end up saying, and I'm thinking about this in Ramsey County, because I'm in Ramsey County, I'm going to be there today, is that it's likely what you may see is a lesser included, or you may see an agreement for what's called local time, which means you'd serve time not in prison, but in the local county jail, and that means less than one year. So she could

see jail time, I think, regardless, and that's actually true. But that doesn't change the fact that she's still going to have to register as a sexual predator for the next 10 years. She's going to have that label stamped on her forehead. Jack Rice, thanks so much for coming on and breaking down this case. I'll make sure to have you on next time. Like you said, not a freak kind of case.

Maybe I can have you something for a little bit more on the up and up. Although I'm talking about terrible crimes. I don't know what kind of case you expect, but either way, I really enjoy talking to Jack Rice. He's one of the best people. I don't know why the hell I even said that. I'll be really honest because let's face it,

I became a criminal defense attorney for a reason. The freak show is why I'm here, my brother. It's why I'm here. It's true. That's true. But listen, I love having you on, and I'll tell you what. Maybe I'll make a deal with you. I'll make a deal with you.

I'll have you on next time. Don't hold me this, but I'll have you on next time that doesn't involve a crime within your state. I'll talk about something in a different jurisdiction, but I'll talk to you. Don't lie to me. How dare you. Well, listen, for those of you don't know, by the way, we had Jack on originally. I think it was for the Chauvin case. I think that's really where we first got in touch with you.

I believe that's what it was, right? Yeah, I mean, it may have been. It may have been. But, yeah, I mean, that was a big one. It was a big one. But either way, love having you on, Jack. And thanks so much. Thank you.

Thank you, brother. All right, everybody. That is all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

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