WHEATON, Ilinois (WLS) — A middle school teacher in Aurora has been charged with sexual assault of a former student in Wheaton, DuPage County officials said.
Jessica Bergmann, 34, lives in Wheaton and is a teacher at Washington Middle School in Aurora, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
Bergmann is accused of having a sexual relationship with a former middle school student during their sophomore year in high school, investigators said.
“Bergmann and the victim began communicating via text messages and phone calls… the relationship between the two turned sexual,” and “progressed further and that the victim would frequently go to Bergmann’s home, occasionally staying overnight, where the two would engage in sexual intercourse,” a news release read in part.
Bergmann was arrested Friday.
The suspect is facing “one count of Criminal Sexual Assault – Position of Authority (Class 1 Felony), one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse – Position of Authority (Class 1 Felony) and one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse (Class 2 Felony),” a news release read in part.
“The profound abuse of trust and authority allegedly displayed by Ms. Bergmann is extremely disturbing and will be met with the full force of the law,” a statement from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin read in part. “Teachers are entrusted with our students’ wellbeing. They are given the awesome responsibility to guide and protect our students, not to harm or exploit them. A teacher who takes advantage of a student, as alleged in this case, is not only breaking the law, but they are also breaking the trust placed in them by the community, the school and the victim’s family.”
Bergmann i set to appear in court on December 1.
No further information was available.
