Gail Gagne (PICTURE): Teacher convicted of having sex with student
(CBS/WCCO/AP) MINNEAPOLIS - Gail Gagne, a 28-year-old former teacher and coach at Cretin-Derham Hall, will have to register as a sex offender and pay a $300 fine after being convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old student.
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Judge Richard Sherer convicted Gail Gagne of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with the former student and football player in 2008.
Gagne was 25 at the time; the student was 16.
According to CBS affiliate WCCO, Gagne had been working in the weight room as a supervisor at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul when the two became acquainted.
Gagne was originally charged with a felony but received a lesser misdemeanor conviction. She has a stayed sentence of one year, which means she will stay out of jail as long as she stays out of trouble.
"I think this was an appropriate resolution to a very unhappy situation," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told the station. "If a lesson is to be learned from today, it's teachers and youth leaders and coaches have no business having sex with minors. Period."
WCCO reports that the victim's mother read an emotional statement in court Monday, stating, "our family is left holding the dirty laundry of the defendant's unprofessional and self-serving actions."
She also said her son's grades suffered because of the incident and he was denied leadership positions at Cretin, after word got out about the allegations. She said another sibling who attended the same high school has also suffered from the gossip.
Gagne did not say anything in court. Her attorney Earl Gray said she is currently living and working in California, but will not be able to work again as a teacher after the conviction.
"The punishment for the fifth-degree offense is not half as severe as not being able to do your job as a teacher and a coach for the rest of your life," Gray said.
Gagne is the daughter of former professional wrestler Greg Gagne, and granddaughter of famous Twin Cities wrestler Verne Gagne.
