Teacher Gets 150 Days Jail for Sex with Girl - Updated

(St. Paul, Minnesota) Earlier today, 31-year-old teacher and coach Melissa Diana Koehn was sentenced for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student.

According to the criminal complaint, Koehn and the teenage girl were found in parked car in Apple Valley, lying on top of each other and kissing in a fully-reclined seat.

Koehn was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 10 years of probation and payment of a $200 fine.

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Teacher Guilty of Criminal Sex with Student - Updated
[Previous 11/22/09 post]
(St. Paul, Minnesota) The trial of Melissa Koehn concluded this week with guilty verdicts on three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Under Minnesota law, sexual contact with a 16- or 17-year-old is a felony if the perpetrator is at least four years older and in a position of authority over a teen. Koehn, who began an unofficial mentoring relationship with the girl her sophomore year, had previously coached her in basketball, and the teen referred to her as "Ms. Koehn" from the witness stand.

Koehn's trial opened Wednesday with prosecutors asking the teen whether she had sexual contact with Koehn, her former history teacher. The student, now 18, denied that anything sexual had occurred and then, when pressed, said she couldn't remember.

Assistant Dakota County Attorney Larry Clark later played for the jury audio recordings of police interviews in which Koehn admitted to having touched the student sexually.

Dakota County District Judge Robert King ordered a psychological evaluation prior to sentencing which was scheduled for February 5.

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Female Teacher Caught Naughty with Female Student
[Previous 12/24/08 post]
(St. Paul, Minnesota) Thirty-year-old Melissa Diana Koehn was arrested and charged after being caught in an inappropriate embrace with a 17-year-old female student.

Koehn is a social studies teacher and girls basketball coach on leave of absence from St. Croix Lutheran High School.

The female student attends St. Croix Lutheran. Koehn has been charged with three counts of felony sexual misconduct.

Koehn taught and coached the girl in the 2007-08 school year, according to charges. She began an unofficial mentoring relationship with her and continued seeing the girl after beginning her leave of absence in June. [...]

At times, the teen's parents allowed Koehn to sleep over because she did not have a residence in the Twin Cities, according to the complaint. The teen's parents later told authorities that they believed Koehn had slept on their daughter's bedroom floor when she stayed over and that they were unaware of any sexual activity.

The complaint states that on Saturday, an Apple Valley police officer dispatched to investigate a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot overlooking a soccer field discovered Koehn and the teen kissing inside the car. The teen was wearing her school letter jacket.

Alarmed by the age difference, the officer notified the teen's parents and turned the investigation over to a detective.

Interviewed by police, Koehn acknowledged taking part in a "handful" of sexual encounters with the teen in the teen's bedroom, the complaint states.

She also acknowledged she still "exercised some authority" over the student, according to charges. When interviewed by police, the student referred to her as "Ms. Koehn."

Koehn was booked into custody at the Ramsey County Jail and subsequently released on $10,000 bail. A court appearance is scheduled for February 9.