Year in jail for former Forest Lake teacher who sexually assaulted 2 students

A former Forest Lake Area Schools middle school teacher was sentenced Friday to a year in jail for sexually assaulting two boys while they were students.

James E. Carter, 58, was sentenced in Washington County District Court after jurors in June convicted him of second- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was acquitted of an additional second-degree criminal sexual conduct count.

Judge Richard Ilkka set aside a four-year term in favor of the jail time, 25 years' probation upon Carter's release as well as conditional release supervision for the rest of his life.

The sentence also requires that Carter have no contact with minors, register as a predatory offender and participate in a sex offender treatment program. Ilkka also ruled that in lieu of jail, Carter could serve roughly half of that time "on any alternative," according to court records, which as of Friday afternoon did not specify options.

According to the charges:

Two boys, who were 16 and 17 years old when the charges were filed in August 2020, told the Sheriff's Office that their middle school shop teacher had sexually assaulted them. Carter paid his students and former students to do work at his home and other properties he owned. He also gave them gifts.

He befriended the first victim after the boy got into a fight at school and was given the option of doing community service work in Carter's classroom. He hired the boy to complete projects at his house and then began attending church with him. Carter molested him on six occasions.

The first boy told his 17-year-old friend, who also did odd jobs for Carter, that the teacher had abused him. The second boy, who had met Carter while enrolled in his shop class, said Carter had also touched him sexually.