New Jersey fifth-grade teacher lets her 11-year-old student move into her house, then she gives birth and prosecutors say the same child is the father

Laura Caron appeared in court and entered a guilty plea to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child with sexual conduct, according to Court TV. The 36-year-old former fifth-grade teacher from Middle Township, New Jersey, reached an agreement with prosecutors under which she must surrender her teaching license and forfeit all future public employment.

According to prosecutors, Caron developed a relationship with a student who started out in her fifth-grade classroom at age 11. She was said to be friends with the boy’s family and arranged for him to stay at her house. That arrangement later expanded until the student was living with her full-time, prosecutors said, before police stepped in.

Prosecutors stated that the sexual contact began in 2016 and continued over four years. It resulted in the birth of a child in 2019. At the time of the birth, prosecutors said, the student was 13 years old and is alleged to be the father.

Investigation begins after a Facebook post and leads to a plea deal

The case came to the attention of authorities in 2024 after the victim’s father posted on Facebook. In the post, he said that Caron’s 5-year-old child looked like his son. The school superintendent saw the post, flagged it, and an investigation started.

When detectives interviewed the victim, he confirmed that he had been in a sexual relationship with Caron. He also confirmed that he was the father of her child.

Caron was initially charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. Those charges stemmed from the relationship that prosecutors said began while the victim was still an elementary-school student in her class. Accusations against a teacher can lead to serious criminal charges, as a Kentucky teacher’s anti-grooming law arrest showed.

At a detention hearing held in 2025, prosecutors told the court they had calculated the number of sexual assaults based on interviews with the victim. Their estimate was that he had been abused a total of 416 times. Sexual assault allegations involving minors have reached court elsewhere too, including a FIFA hopeful facing sexual assault charges.

Prosecutors announced the guilty plea in a press release and said Caron had agreed to a five-year sentence in state prison. Before she starts serving that sentence, she will undergo an evaluation to determine whether she is “repetitive and/or compulsive.” The outcome of that evaluation could affect her sentence.

Once she finishes the prison term, Caron will be required to register on the Megan’s Law Offender Registry. She will also remain under parole supervision for the rest of her life.