A onetime substitute teacher at a St. Paul charter school has admitted to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student in a classroom.
Caitlin K. Thao, 24, of St. Paul, agreed to plead guilty in Ramsey County District Court this week to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the encounter at St. Paul City School on University Avenue near the State Capitol.
The plea agreement between the prosecution and the defense calls for Thao to serve no more than six months in jail, be put on probation afterward, complete a psychosexual examination and register as a predatory offender. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 10.
A teenage boy told police on March 13 that the two had a sexual encounter about 1½ months earlier in an otherwise empty middle school classroom where Thao taught. Thao later invited the teen to her home, but he declined.
After Thao resigned in late February, she reported the sexual conduct to a social worker while in the Regions Hospital mental health unit.
