Law&Crime Sidebar - Teacher Who 'Made Out' with 11-Year-Old Sobs as She Gets Locked Up

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

Madison Bergmann, a former 5th-grade teacher, has pleaded guilty to multiple sexual misconduct charges that involve children. Bergmann was accused of sending more than 30,000 text messages to an 11-year-old student. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber takes a closer look at some of the biggest moments from her plea hearing, including words from the judge that caused Bergmann to start sobbing.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Grow your own audience today – go to https://www.opus.pro/sidebar for 1 week free plus 50% off the 3 months of Opus Pro. HOST: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/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.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. So we're here today for a plea hearing. Is that still the plan? That is your other. We have followed Madison Bergman's case through every step of the legal process, from the initial reporting that she'd sexually assaulted an 11-year-old child to the tacking on of more and more charges to revelations of just how deep her obsession with a fifth grade student went. Well, now, after initial denials, she has changed her plea, agreeing to admit her guilt to multiple heinous sex crimes. We're taking a closer look at the biggest moments from her plea hearing, plus charges that a fellow teacher at the same school is still facing. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Madison Bergman is a name you probably recognize if you follow us here on Sidebar. She resigned from Riverside Elementary School in St. Croix County, Wisconsin in May of 2024, after the victim's parents brought printed screen. screenshots of some of the texts between their 11-year-old son and his teacher to the school. And by the way, Bergman was actually engaged to be married at the time. Now, that engagement was quickly called off when messages like these came to light. Victim, ha, ha, bro, I just want to make out with you. Bergman, I do too, like all the time. Bergman, 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. Victim, ha, ha, ha, for real. I love to kiss you on the ground, too. Ha, ha, ha. Bergman, I almost kissed you when you were on the ground today, but I got distracted by your stomach. Talking with stomach, it's stomach churning, to say the least. Well, these texts were apparently in reference to the first time that Bergman had intimate contact with this child, this boy. according to a criminal complaint 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 that it was his first kiss he then got up gave Bergman a hug and left the classroom to catch the school bus you know we talk about it a lot but think about the emotional mental impact that something like this is going to have on a child as he grows up as he matures, talk about it all the time, particularly when I have on Chris Hansen. This is a problem. This is really, really, really disgusting stuff. Now, you got to get this. A school resource officer testified during a preliminary hearing last year that Bergman and this

11-year-old shared more than 30,000 messages with each other. The victim admitted that he and Bergman had kissed several times, touched each other in class in a way that no one would see. The victim also told the officer about love letters and drawings that he and Bergman would write to each other. He said that Bergman kept all of the sheets of papers and folders, and these folders were apparently found in Bergman's backpack in her classroom. In one of those letters, Bergman allegedly 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.

So despite that apparent acknowledgement that her actions were wrong, the inappropriate conduct seemingly continued. At first, Bergman was charged with just one count of sexual contact with a child under age 13. It's a first-degree child sexual assault charge. But then there was an amended complaint, and it added another nine charges, including charges like use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, sexual misconduct by school staff or volunteer, child enticement, which, by the way, has a child. a modifier requiring a lifetime supervision of the defendant as a serious sex offender. But now we go to the latest. We go to Monday, September 29th, and that is when Madison Bergman, who had been out on bail, was in court to accept the plea deal.

By the way, if you're a fan of cyber, if you're a fan of law and crime, you might be wondering, how is it that they're able to share so many clips with our followers from inside the courtrooms of our hottest trials? Well, I'll tell you what, let you in on a little secret. We use a platform called Opus Clip. This may be of interest to you. So it is an all-in-one AI editor that makes it easier and faster to cut, create, and upload videos across all social media platforms. Through the power of AI, Opus Clip automatically generates B-roll. It cleans up audio, and it reframes your videos for any platform. It is so easy to start using. I'm going to show you how right now,

all you got to do is go to opus.pro slash sidebar, sign up, you upload a video in just a few minutes. you will have tons of perfectly edited clips ready to go. So whether you're making videos for TikTok or shorts or Instagram reels, Opus Clip is your one-stop shop for getting your best content seen by more viewers across all these platforms with just the press of one button. And if you're wondering how good the AI edited videos are from Opus Clip, just look at our content here at Law and Crime. Our producers have used Opus to help us cut and share clips

of some of our most major trials. And having a tool like Opus Clip means we can get you even more viral updates from inside the courtroom faster than ever before. And look, at Sidebar, we know our listeners have a lot of opinions and ideas to share. And this is the most powerful tool there is to help you edit like a pro and grow your own audience. So give it a try for yourself. Go to opus.pro slash Sidebar to start creating your own videos today. 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 misconduct 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 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 you're about to give in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing about the truth? to 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. So first of all, with her side. guard to counts three, six, and eight in the amended information, which are a child enticement with life-time 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. 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, 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 the judge walks her through the questionnaire to make sure that everything is correct.

Are you currently receiving any treatment for mental illness or disorder? No. Have you had any alcohol, medication, or drugs in the last 24 hours? Yes. And what have you had? I've had my prescribed medication. Okay. And are you taking it according to the prescription? Yes.

Is there anything about that medication that you know of that would affect your ability to understand what we're doing here in court today? No, you're okay. All right. Yeah, the judge wanted to make sure that Bergman knew that by pleading guilty, she was giving up certain rights, the right to confront witnesses, the right to present her own evidence. Bergman agreed, agreed that she understood. And the judge went through what the state would have to prove in order to get a conviction on the charges she faced if she had gone to trial. The next thing we need to talk about are the elements of these particular crimes. And we'll start with child enticement, which is count three.

Now here's why we're doing this, amongst other reasons. One of the reasons, though, is you're offering a guilty plea on all three of these charges. and you're giving up the right to have a trial and make the state prove up each of these elements. So I want you to know what it is exactly they would have to prove if we did go to trial since you're giving up that opportunity, okay? Yeah. All right. So first of all with regard to child enticement, the state would have to prove

that you attempted to cause a person to go into a secluded place, that the person was under the age of 18 years, you attempted to cause the person to go into the secluded place with intent to have sexual contact with a child in violation of Wisconsin's statute 948-02. In addition, because the allegation is this is an attempt rather than a completed act, the state would also have to establish that you intended to cause the person to go into the secluded place for the purposes of committing one of the listed crimes, and I've stated the one that was alleged by the state. The defendant did acts that demonstrate unequivocally under all of the circumstances that she had formed that intent, and that the defendant did act that demonstrate unequivocally under all of the circumstances that she had formed that intent, and that the defendant,

did the acts demonstrate unequivocally under all of the circumstances that he or she would commit the crime except for, in this case, there's the intervention of another person or some other extraneous factor. So those are all the elements of this particular crime, and there's one more, and that would be that it has to have occurred in St. Croix County. So, counsel, have we got that correct? That's correct, Your Honor. That's correct. All right. So, do you understand all of the elements of the child enticement crime that I've just described? Yes. Now, the next two charges are identical in terms of the charge, but they allege, as I understand,

differing, different dates? Different dates, Your Honor. Okay. So let's go through, I'm going to go through the elements in general, and then we'll just specify the dates so you're clear on that. So first of all, this is sexual misconduct against a pupil by a school staff member under 948.098. The first thing that the state would have to prove in connection with these two charges is that on the specified date, you were a school staff member at, in this case, Rivercrest Elementary School. On the specified date, the victim was enrolled at Rivercrest Elementary School as a pupil.

And third, you committed an act of sexual misconduct against the victim. Now, sexual misconduct under the statute means verbal, conduct of a sexual nature or physical contact of a sexual nature, the allegation here is verbal. Correct, Your Honor. Correct? Correct. Verbal conduct of a sexual nature means communications made intentionally for the purpose

of, and in this case I'm assuming to facilitate the crime under 9402, it wasn't specified. Correct, Your Honor, for sexual, the intent for sexual contact. Okay. Now, the last thing I want to mention here is the stated purpose that's referenced under the statute for which the intentional conduct needs to be established is for the sexual arousal or sexual gratification of the victim or yourself. Those are the two that seemed applicable to me, is that right, counsel? That's correct. Correct.

intentionally means that you acted with a mental purpose to achieve those results. So in addition to all of that, it would have to be established that this happened in St. Croix County as well. So, counsel, can we confirm, I know it's a relatively new statute, and I would just want to confirm that we've got the elements correct to your satisfaction. Agreed. And when the judge addressed what Bergman's sentence could be, that is when there was a change. her seemingly calm, stoic demeanor began to crack. She started to tear up a little bit, dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. The next thing we need to talk about are the penalties for these three charges.

Now, count three, child enticement, and I think counsel has already pointed out, that that includes lifetime supervision as a serious sex offense. counts as well. But the penalty under Class D felonies is imprisonment of up to 25 years and up to $100,000 fine. Do you understand that? Yes. Now with regard to the other two charges, those are Class I felonies for which the maximum imprisonment is three years and six months and a $10,000 fine. You understand the penalties that would apply to each of those other two charges yes now this is one of the most important moments I think in our plea colloquy and that is I want you to

understand that regardless of what's recommended here by the attorneys whether it be now or in a sentencing hearing later I could still sentence you up to the maximum penalties that I've just described for those three crimes. Do you understand that? Yes, Your Honor. Okay. Now the other charges are proposed to be dismissed and read in for purposes of sentencing. There's a total of 10 charges in the amended information,

so you're pleading, you're offering a plea to three, with seven to be dismissed and read in. in it's important that you understand what that means you heard me just describe what the maximum penalties are for the three charges for which you've offered a plea of guilt I can't sentence you to any greater penalty based upon the dismissed and read-in charges all right yeah but I can't consider the circumstances surrounding those other charges as I determine what the appropriate sentence is for those three as you've offered your guilty plea on within the limits of the maximum sentences that I just described. Do you understand that?

Yes. Based upon the plea today to the child in Ticeman charge. Mr. Tamarino points out the requirement for sex offender registration as well. that's not normally part of our plea process that's not required to be, but you are fully aware that this particular charge requires as mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Is that correct? Yes. That's correct. Are you fully aware and understand all those consequences of offering your plea here today in connection with those requirements? I do, yes. Has anyone promised you anything or threatened you in any way to?

make these three please no have you had sufficient time to discuss all these matters with mr. Camberino yes do you have any more questions for him right now I do not so knowing everything you know sitting here today and everybody you talked to before and all the thought process you've gone through coming here today you still wish to offer your guilty pleas to these three charges I do So based upon my conversation here today with Ms. Bergman and my observations of her here in court, the court finds that the defendant has entered into her three pleas knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, with a full understanding of the nature of the three charges, the maximum penalties that could be imposed,

and the constitutional rights she's giving up. The court also finds there is a factual basis for these three pleas based upon the agreement of the parties, My own review of the complaint, as well as the preliminary hearing and motion process that we've undertaken already in this case. And so based upon all of those facts, the court finds there is a factual basis to support these three pleas. The court will accept your three pleas of guilty and pronounce you guilty of count three, which is child enticement. Count six, which is sexual misconduct by a school staff member of volunteer, and count eight, which is sexual misconduct by a school staff member of volunteer. The first, as a class D felony, the latter two are class I felonies. The remaining seven counts are dismissed by agreement of the parties and read in for purposes of sentencing.

And when it came time to discuss whether Burtman would be able to stay out on bond until sentencing, The state argued that she just pled guilty to three felonies, so it's only appropriate that she'd be locked up. As the court knows, now that the guilty police have been entered, she no longer enjoys that presumption of innocence that she's enjoyed up until this point. She has pled guilty to three felonies here today, the highest level being a Class B felony. Also, as the court knows, according to the plea, the state, will be asking for a lengthy prison sentence in this case. This is a case that's been in the public eye. It requires public protection. Ms. Bergman was in a position of power within the school district.

Use that to an advantage on a student. And since then, the investigations have continued, as the court know, and the case and other cases have remained in the public eye. I know Ms. Bergman has participated in therapy, at least since October of last year. She has had a year to engage in that therapy. that therapy. I believe she's made some progress. According to the letter that was submitted, I don't believe much forward of progress can be made or be beneficial at this stage. I believe

the remand is appropriate at this time again without that presumption of innocence with the prison sentence of the state will be asking for it's appropriate at this time. Bergman's defense, they argued that she's been a model defendant throughout this case. Since the time of her initial appearance in court back in May of 2024, the bond was set. She posted the bail as well as the bond, and she's remained out of custody. She was on a GPS device, a global positioning system device, and she maintained full compliance with every aspect of her conditions of release. She never violated it one time.

She and her family had separate housing for her with her grandparents to accommodate. that. She kept working. She never had contact with children. She kept in contact with me constantly. So did her family. Mr. Bergman is here in court. She has had supervision like basically no other defendant through this process has had. Additionally, on her own, she sought help. Not only did she go through therapy, it's much more than that, Your Honor. As the court might know, I submitted a letter last week to the court as well as seal documents. So, What did she do? Well, first she got a full psychosexual evaluation.

That's not an evaluation where someone sits down for a couple hours and they talk and take a couple of tests. That's multi, multi hours of going through testing over several days, as well as talking with the psychologist. And based on all of those testings, as we have submitted to the court and counsel, she is deemed not a threat to the public.

She has scored very well on everything. This evaluation was given to Ms. Otten back in July. We have had a number of conversations about this case, at least three meetings, and I made it clear to the state that she wants to plead guilty to some type of counts in this case. We made that clear. She wants to resolve this matter.

There is a significant amount of information that shows that she was guilty of these counts. And she has maintained that she is guilty of these counts, and that's why she did the psychosexual. After the psychosexual, she then completed a pre-sentence investigation privately so that the pre-sentence investigator not only works with her, but as well as go through all of her family contacts. And that's clearly established that she has maintained great ties to the community

and has abided by all conditions of release. On top of that, Your Honor, as this court knows, six months ago, the court released her from the GPS system because she had done so well on her conditions of release. She never violated one. So for the last six months, she's had no GPS monitoring. And on top of that, Your Honor, it's not only therapy, it's sex offender programming. She has had, I believe, at the time of the pre-plea investigation was submitted and or my letter, it was 39 sessions. That is a lot of sessions, Your Honor, that someone would do even before they enter a plea of guilty, even before they admit guilt, even before there is a conviction.

So basically, other than the legal issue of the presumption of innocence not applying, nothing has changed and things have gotten better. This is a person who is actively in sexual programming. So for those reasons, we are respectfully requesting that her, conditions of release remain the same because again nothing's gotten worse it's gotten even better it's become better because of everything that she has done to try to do whatever she can to make this situation better not only legally as well as to admit guilt for purposes of the victims hopefully to have some type of closure in this case as well as for her thank you

And when the judge handed down his decision about Bond, that is when Bergman broke down. I'm going to exercise my discretion to order that she be remanded into the custom of the St. Craig County Sheriff. Bond is going to be revoked as of this moment. And we will wait the 75 days or so to get the PSI completed. and find out the outcome here in terms of sentencing. But balancing all the factors, I think that's the most appropriate decision, proper exercise in my discretion today. Now, is there anything else from the state's point of view that we need to address today?

Not today, Your Honor. Mr. Camerino? Nothing else. All right. Then I will see you at the sentencing hearing, and we are adjourned. Bergman continued sobbing as she was put into handcuffs and taken into custody. So to recap real quick, Bergman entered a guilty plea to child enticement, sexual contact with the sex offender modifier, Counts six and eight, sexual misconduct by school staff.

Now, the other seven counts were dismissed, but they were read in for the purposes of sentencing, which means the judge can consider the conduct, the allegations behind those charges when it comes to how long Bergman will spend in prison. And since the court revoked Bergman's bond, she is now in the custody of the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office and Tiller's sentencing, which is scheduled to happen just before Christmas, December 22nd, 2025. And according to prosecutors, they appear to be requesting up to 12 years in prison for this woman. Now, as we have reported previously on sidebar, Bergman isn't the only teacher at that same school that has been charged with sexual misconduct. That's right. Abigail

Faust is accused of not only allegedly knowing about what Bergman was up to, but also having her own inappropriate contact with a student. So the 24-year-old was charged in St. Croix County with failure to protect a child, causing mental harm to a child, child enticement, and sexual misconduct by school staff or a volunteer. Now, here's the next part of the story. As news of those charges spread, you have a family in nearby Washington County, Minnesota. So it's just across the border. They realized that was their nanny. Yeah, this family had apparently hired Faust back in 2021 to help watch their children, reportedly a baby who was just a few months old, a young girl, and then this boy who was 15 years old when he claims that Faust started sexually

abusing him. When the family realized that Faust was being accused of disturbing conduct with minors, they contacted police. This teen son identified in the filings as victim one, sat down with an investigator, a detective for a forensic interview, and I will tell you, just divulged sickening details. Faust criminal complaint reads, I asked victim one how he was generally feeling since the initial report of sexual abuse was made. He stated, kind of gross, that he felt manipulated, and that he felt kind of used. Victim one became emotional, and I could see tears well up in his eyes. Now, he claims that Faust almost became like a member of the family, claims that what started is sharing inappropriate photos eventually led to more, and that the

teen allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with Faust. Now here's the thing, according to prosecutors, Faust also allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with victim one's friend. Yeah, victim two also apparently came over, spoke with police, and confirmed that there was this sexual relationship with Faust. Now, something to note here, because some of the alleged contact between the teens and Faust happened in Wisconsin, Faust now faces 13 felony charges there, and we believe a preliminary hearing is scheduled for October when the judge, of course, will decide

if there's enough evidence for the case to go to trial. And according to Wisconsin court records, it appears that Faust's parents posted her bail, that she has to wear a GPS monitor, that she's been ordered not to leave her house. She's also been told she can't use the Internet unless it's related to a virtual court hearing meeting with her attorneys or telehealth appointments.

So, and 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 podcasts. You can follow me on Instagram or X. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app,

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