HUDSON, Wisconsin — A disgraced Wisconsin trainer accused of sexually assaulting her 11-year-old pupil claimed Thursday that the fees towards her ought to be thrown out — as a result of the preteen boy’s textual content messages weren’t particular sufficient about how they touched one another.
A decide disagreed, and stated Madison Bergmann — who made headlines when she was accused of “making out” with the fifth-grader weeks earlier than her marriage ceremony — should stand trial for prices that embody first-degree little one intercourse assault, little one enticement and sexual misconduct by a college employees member.
Intimate textual content messages that the pair exchanged additionally emerged in courtroom, wherein the 24-year-old elementary college trainer allegedly stated she wished to “lick” the boy’s abs and that he loved touching his chest.
The 24-year-old faces a most of as much as 178 years in jail if convicted on all prices.
Bergmann arrived at courtroom flanked by her father. She was sporting braids in her hair, with a black high and light-colored pants.
She cried as she took the stand throughout a listening to on her protection group’s movement to dismiss the fees.
An legal professional for Bergman learn from her racy texts with the alleged sufferer — and argued that her habits didn’t rise to the extent of sexual assault as a result of the boy used the phrase “chest” in describing their bodily contact.
“The idea of this movement is that there’s not possible trigger within the criticism, in a single particular space,” legal professional Joseph Tamburino informed the courtroom, “and that’s the realm of ‘sexual contact of intimate half.’”
“Below Wisconsin statutes, there needs to be touching of an intimate half to ensure that there to be sexual contact,” Tamburino argued. “What are these components? The breast, buttocks, anus, groin, scrotum, penis, vagina, or pubic mound of a human being. The statute doesn’t say it’s the ‘chest’ or the ‘chest space.’”
In a single textual content, the 11-year-old allegedly wrote, “You have been touching my chest lots.” He argued that the phrase “chest” was not sufficient to cost Bergmann with sexual assault.
However ultimately, the decide stated, “It will be absurd to require a toddler to make use of the identical language that the state legislature has chosen for our statues.”
Then the decide learn extra of the texts.
“I really like having my hand in your chest. I might really feel your coronary heart beating a lot haha” Bergmann allegedly wrote.
The boy allegedly replied “haha it was beating so quick. I used to be so stunned and I cherished it since you simply saved kissing me.”
“When everybody was cleansing after studying, I used to be standing on the entrance and also you have been too, and I touched your chest,” Bergmann allegedly wrote. “Once I grabbed your shirt and I pulled you into me, oh my goodness…I need to lick your abs haha.”
The decide dominated that the phrase “chest” doesn’t imply that the boy wasn’t assaulted.
Bergmann, a former fifth-grade trainer at River Crest Elementary Faculty was initially charged with first-degree sexual assault of a kid.
Final month, she was slapped with 9 extra felonies — one rely of utilizing a pc to facilitate a toddler intercourse crime, 5 prices of sexual misconduct by college employees, two prices of kid enticement inflicting psychological or bodily hurt, and a cost of exposing a toddler to dangerous supplies.
In keeping with the prison criticism, Bergmann’s alleged abuse of the 11-year-old boy got here to gentle when the scholar’s mom overheard her son speaking to the trainer on the cellphone. Suspicious, the mother and father checked the boy’s cellphone and allegedly discovered salacious texts between the pair.
The deranged textual content chain included messages from Bergmann allegedly discussing a number of encounters contained in the Hudson, Wis., classroom throughout lunch or after college. She allegedly informed the kid how a lot she loved him touching her and “making out.”
A few of the alleged assaults even occurred in Bergmann’s classroom, in accordance with the criticism.
The boy’s enraged father stormed into River Crest Elementary Faculty with printouts of the conversations, authorities stated.
When police searched Bergmann’s classroom, they allegedly discovered a folder in her bag with the sufferer’s identify on it. The folder allegedly contained handwritten notes speaking about how a lot they kissed and fondled one another
An legal professional for Bergmann has not returned The Put up’s requests for remark. She has pleaded not responsible to all prices.
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