NJ TEACHER PLEADS GUILTY TO HAVING BABY WITH 13-YEAR-OLD
Laura Caron, 36, a former fifth-grade teacher in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child with sexual conduct over a relationship with a former student that prosecutors say began when he was 11. She became pregnant when the boy was 13 and gave birth to his daughter in 2019, and now the young man, about 21, says he started it all and wants the charges dropped, the New York Post reports.
Caron entered the plea on October 28, 2026, according to the Courier-Post. Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland announced it on October 30. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors are recommending five years in state prison.
Caron taught the boy and his brother at Middle Township Elementary School No. 2. The family stayed close to her afterward, and the Press of Atlantic City reports the children lived at her home from 2016 to 2020. The Daily Mail reported that the boy and his two siblings slept there several nights a week.
Prosecutors say the sexual relationship began in 2016 and lasted until he was 15. The secret came out in December 2024, when the boy’s father spotted a Facebook photo of Caron’s child and noticed the resemblance to himself and his son. Court documents cited by the Press of Atlantic City say school officials told police on December 12, 2024.
Investigators later uncovered more details. His brother allegedly saw Caron sexually assaulting him while he slept, according to the Post’s account of the investigation. ABC6 reported that his sister once fell asleep next to her brother and woke up to find him in Caron’s bed.
The young man sees it differently. “They need to drop all charges. I wasn’t groomed or raped or manipulated by her. She never initiated anything,” he told the Daily Mail. “I started everything. If it was up to me she wouldn’t have been in jail.”
Caron was arrested January 15, 2025, and charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. A grand jury indicted her on those counts in June 2025. Sutherland said in his announcement: “Teachers hold a position of great trust, and the allegations in this case represent a deeply troubling breach of that trust.”
The plea requires Caron to give up her teaching license and any future public employment. Before sentencing, she will be evaluated at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel to determine whether her behavior is repetitive or compulsive, a finding that could affect her sentence.
After prison, she must register under Megan’s Law and remain on parole supervision for life. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman is scheduled to sentence her on January 8, 2027.
