Laura Caron
A Cape May County teacher is in jail for an alleged sexual relationship with her student that produced a child.
Laura Caron, a fifth-grade teacher at Middle Township Elementary School, is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, along with second-degree sexual assault and child endangerment for the yearslong relationship.
A Facebook post last month led to the discovery of the sexual relationship that allegedly began when the victim was 11 years old, and produced a now-5-year-old child.
The 34-year-old Cape May Court House woman was arrested Wednesday, but the relationship dates to around 2016, according to the charges.
Caron taught both the victim and his younger brother, and became friends with their mother over the years as a result, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
The boys and their sister would stay at the teacher’s home one or two nights a week, with her taking them to school, the affidavit states. Eventually, they moved in permanently.
The victim’s siblings told investigators they would go to sleep all in the same room, but wake up to their brother in bed with Caron.
While they would shower in the second-floor bedroom, their brother would shower on the first floor.
The victim’s brother noted that Caron would follow the older boy into the bathroom and lock the door. They would come out “both wearing towels and wet,” he told investigators.
After Caron gave birth to a child April 5, 2019, the victim started permanently sleeping in her room, and even had clothes there, his brother told investigators.
The baby was born when Caron was 28 and the boy was 13. The victim is now 19 years old.
It was the child’s looks that ultimately led to the arrest.
Middle Township Superintendent Dr. David Salvo received an anonymous tip about a possible sexual relationship between one of his teachers and a student Dec. 12 of last year.
It was a post by the victim’s father, noting that Caron’s child resembles the man and his son.
“When the district was first advised of the allegations, the staff member was immediately placed on and continues to be on paid administrative leave,” Salvo said in a written statement emailed to BreakingAC.
He referred additional questions to the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office.
The victim’s sister eventually showed investigators a screenshot of a text with her brother where he admitted his is the child’s father, but asks his sister not to tell anyone “because he does not want Caron to get in trouble,” the affidavit states.
After the Facebook post, the victim’s mother called him and he confirmed he is the child’s father.
The sexual relationship is alleged to have continued until 2020.
The victim said he was in communication with Caron up until his father made the Facebook post, the affidavit states.
Caron is in the Cape May County jail awaiting a first appearance.
