Minnesota law ‘blind spots’ prevent charges in school sexual misconduct case, Anoka County Attorney says

Minnesota law ‘blind spots’ prevent charges in school sexual misconduct case, Anoka County Attorney says Renée Cooper and Pilar Pedraza KSTP Anoka County prosecutors declined charges against a school paraprofessional investigated for sexual misconduct involving a student, citing gaps in Minnesota law. Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson said that investigators found evidence of sexual conduct against a 17-year-old student by a school paraprofessional in Fridley. Johnson said he believed the alleged actions of the paraprofessional should constitute a crime but that prosecutors could not file criminal charges against the paraprofessional under current Minnesota law. That determination was shared with law enforcement investigators in a July declination letter from Johnson’s office obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “I have two daughters in high school. I’m outraged by this,” Johnson said in an interview on Wednesday. “The evidence in this case showed that there was both sexual contact and sexual penetration between a paraprofessional in a school and a 17-year-old student,” Johnson said. Johnson said licensed educators are barred from sexual contact with high school students under state law, but unlicensed paraprofessionals are not covered by that law. He also said prosecutors considered whether the paraprofessional held a position of authority over the student, but another legal bar in that statute blocked possible charges. “It is a position of authority. Absolutely, the paraprofessional was in a position of authority over the student. That’s clear. However, what Minnesota law does is it creates an age difference requirement for position of authority,” Johnson said. Johnson and case documents said the school paraprofessional was 20 years old and the student was 17 at the time. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is not identifying either person to protect the student and because no charges were filed. “Depending on which statute you look at, it could be 36 months, it could be 48 months difference in age, and in this situation, it was a 31-month age difference, so we can’t satisfy that part of the statute,” Johnson said. “We looked at a half a dozen other theories of prosecution in the case,” Johnson said. “And we found that there were blind spots and gaps in the law that caused us not to be able to file charges in the case.” Johnson said the case exposed blind spots in the law. He said he is now working with the Zero Abuse Project, a nonprofit, to review state law and push for changes. “I think the community is outraged by this, and my job is to listen to that outrage, understand it, see and identify gaps in the law, and then try to do what I can to change it so that we have better tools available to us in the future, to protect these children; that’s my job. That’s what I was elected to do, and that’s what I’m committed to doing in this case,” Johnson said. An August law change makes grooming a minor a felony in Minnesota. Johnson said that may have been an option in this case if it had been in effect at the time. Regardless, he said gaps in the state’s criminal sexual conduct laws still need to be closed. Employee-student policy examined Despite the legal loophole, most school districts have their own codes of ethics that bar any sort of sexual relationship between a staffer and a student. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the district Wednesday morning asking the current status of the man named in that criminal investigation and when the district knew what was going on. The district said that the employee has not been terminated, but was placed on administrative leave as soon as the district became aware of the allegations. Fridley Public Schools also provided the following statement: “The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority. When Fridley Public Schools became aware of these allegations, we immediately placed the employee on administrative leave, where they remain. The district paused its internal investigation as directed by the Anoka County Attorney’s Office while it performed its review. We have been informed its review is complete and we are now working to obtain the documentation from that review and will restart our investigation. The County Attorney’s charging decision is separate from the district’s responsibility to determine whether our policies and professional standards were followed, and we will complete that process thoroughly. “Because this is an open personnel matter and involves student information protected under state and federal privacy law, we are unable to share additional details at this time.” We did look into how paraprofessionals are checked out. “It’s sickening, in all honesty,” said Harmony, a mother who has two children in the district. She asked us not to use her full name or show her face to protect her children. But she had plenty to say about the case of a para having a sexual relationship with a student. “As a mother myself, I just feel like my children are first priority,” she said. “And to have something like that going on in my school … regardless of if he’s gone or not, it still needs to be some type of change. There needs to be something done because it’s not right.” 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that, before hiring a paraprofessional, the state requires districts to run a background check with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension . The statute doesn’t lay out exactly what a district is supposed to do if a candidate fails that background check, leaving that up to local school boards. Once hired, like almost every public school in Minnesota, Fridley uses Policy 423 , which says “sexual relationships between school district employees and students, without regard to the age of the student, are strictly forbidden.” The Minnesota School Board Association and the Minnesota Association of School Administrators worked together to develop the policy back in 1999 to provide a standardized set of rules for districts across the state. Violating Policy 423 can, though it doesn’t have to, lead to firing and even criminal charges. That’s something Harmony thinks should have happened in this case. “This is like a serious case that needs to be taken seriously,” Harmony said. “There should be some type of law … or something that protects these kids from predators like that. It should have never happened under any circumstances.”