New Jersey teacher pleads guilty after having child with 13-year-old student 

A former New Jersey teacher pleaded guilty last week in a child sexual abuse case involving a student who prosecutors say fathered her child at age 13.

Laura Caron, 36, entered the plea in Cape May County Superior Court. She admitted to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child with sexual conduct, according to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The guilty plea by Caron includes a 5-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison,” the office said.

Caron must surrender her teaching license and is barred from “all future public employment,” prosecutors said.

Caron was a fifth-grade teacher at Middle Township Elementary School in Cape May County. Prosecutors say she began sexually abusing the boy in 2016, when he was 11, and continued until 2020.

The school serves more than 500 students in grades three through five and is located about 37 miles southwest of Atlantic City.

In a statement last year, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland said the allegations represented a breach of the trust families place in teachers.

“Teachers hold a position of great trust, and the allegations in this case represent a deeply troubling breach of that trust,” he said.

Sutherland also pledged to support the boy and his family.

“We will work tirelessly to ensure justice is served and to support the victim and their family throughout this process,” he said.

Middle Township Police Chief Tracey Super added, “Parents and guardians place immense trust in educators, and when that trust is violated, it impacts everyone.”

Caron became close with the boy’s family after teaching him and his brother. Initially, the children stayed at her home one or two nights a week. Later, the boy and his siblings moved in full time, according to 6ABC.

Caron gave birth in 2019, when the boy was 13. He later told police he was the child’s father.

The boy’s father raised suspicions in a 2024 Facebook post, writing that Caron’s child looked like his son. The school superintendent noticed the post, and investigators began looking into Caron, Court TV reported.

Detectives interviewed the boy and his siblings. At a detention hearing last year, prosecutors said Caron sexually assaulted the boy more than 400 times over four years, based on his account.

Police arrested Caron in January 2025. Prosecutors charged her with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment. A grand jury indicted her that June, as Heartlander News previously reported.

The district placed Caron on paid leave last year after learning of the allegations.

“When the district was first advised of the allegations, the staff member was immediately placed on and continues to be on paid administrative leave,” Middle Township School District Superintendent David Salvo said in a statement.

Before Caron serves her prison term, specialists at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel will evaluate her to determine whether she meets the “repetitive and/or compulsive” classification, prosecutors said. Their findings could affect her sentence.

After prison, Caron will register as a sex offender and remain under parole supervision for life.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman will sentence her in January.

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Courtroom Spotlight)