Former Minnesota Teacher Who Had 𝘴єx With Student Gets 180-Day Sentence — But Won’t Have to Spend It Behind Bars
A former Minnesota special-education teacher who admitted to having a 𝘴єxual relationship with an 18-year-old student while he was still attending her school has been sentenced to 180 days, but she will be allowed to serve the time under electronic home monitoring.
Ann Margaret Bacon, now 27, was sentenced on October 26 in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty in September to third-degree criminal 𝘴єxual conduct involving a prohibited occupational relationship. She was also ordered to serve two years of supervised probation.
The sentence means Bacon will not have to return to jail to serve the 180 days. She received credit for two days already spent in custody and was permitted to complete the remainder under electronic monitoring at home.
The case dates back to 2023, when Bacon was working at Tartan High School in Oakdale, Minnesota. She had joined the school district as a paraprofessional during the 2021–2022 school year before becoming a special-education teacher in August 2022.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators began examining allegations that Bacon had become sexually involved with an 18-year-old male student who was still enrolled at the school.
The investigation focused heavily on when the relationship began. Bacon initially told police that the 𝘴єxual relationship started in July 2023, after the student had graduated. However, investigators confronted her with photographs showing the two together at a hotel on May 8, 2023.
Hotel records also showed that Bacon had rented rooms for one-night stays on May 8, June 4, June 11 and July 4 of that year.
According to the complaint, Bacon eventually acknowledged that the relationship had begun while the young man was still her student. She also admitted to renting hotel rooms for their encounters.
The student told investigators that he and Bacon were dating exclusively and that he had stayed at her apartment. He initially gave police a different account of when their 𝘴єxual relationship began.
Concerns about the alleged relationship had reportedly been raised with school officials months before the police investigation. Two witnesses said they had contacted the school in July 2023 because they believed the situation was inappropriate.
The allegations were raised again in February 2024, with one witness expressing concern that Bacon was still teaching at the school and had access to other students, including those who might be particularly vulnerable.
Bacon resigned on February 8, 2024, the same day police interviewed her.
The criminal complaint also contained separate allegations that Bacon had purchased alcohol for the student and some of his underage friends. Investigators cited a $40 electronic payment connected to a transaction described as being for alcohol. Bacon denied buying alcohol for minors, and those allegations were separate from the offense to which she pleaded guilty.
At sentencing, prosecutors and the defense jointly requested a departure from the state’s sentencing guidelines, with a sentence of no more than 364 days and a gross misdemeanor conviction. Judge Thomas Gilligan Jr. followed the agreement and imposed the 180-day sentence, along with two years of supervised probation.
The case has drawn attention to the boundaries of professional relationships between educators and students, particularly when a student is legally an adult but remains under a teacher’s authority at school.
Bacon has now been sentenced, bringing the criminal case over the prohibited relationship to a resolution. Her sentence, however, has attracted attention because she will be allowed to serve the jail term at home rather than behind bars.
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