Madeleine Schmaltz, a 30-year-old former middle school teacher in Minnesota, was able to avoid prison after having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student.
Schmaltz might have gotten away after blaming her personal trauma for what occurred. The ex-Hermantown Middle School teacher’s fall from grace began after the student’s mother overheard a conversation “sexual in nature” between her child and the educator in June 2019.
A judge has shocked the community after it was revealed that Schmaltz was sentenced to just three years of supervised probation. She had pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.
If the former junior high volleyball coach can avoid getting into any additional trouble during her probation, the felony conviction will become a misdemeanor.
Moreover, Schmaltz will have to register as a predatory offender and avoid contact with the victim. She is also not allowed to have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.
The former teacher reportedly had sexual relations with the teen on several occasions at her home. She was supposed to be helping him with homework.
According to the complaint, she “admitted to sexual touching of the victim on the victim’s intimate parts and to having the victim touch her on her intimate parts.”
She was his teacher at Hermantown Middle School a few years before. She worked at the school as a science teacher for five years between 2014 and 2019.
Schmaltz, who is getting help in therapy, has found a new career as an online clothing salesperson. The former teacher said that mental health issues clouded her judgment.
At a virtual hearing, she stated: “During the spring of 2019, I was going through personal traumatic experiences that did cloud my judgment. Since then, I’ve been working through those experiences, along with just trying to better myself, and I will continue to do so. I know that my clouded judgment has harmed the victim and the victim’s family, and for that, I am truly sorry.”
Her defense attorney, Ryan Pacyga, revealed: “She’s sincerely apologetic for her behavior, she recognizes the pain that she caused, and she’s doing what she can to put not only herself in a better place, but eventually be able to move forward with her experience and help others.”
Schmaltz no longer lives in Duluth, and she hopes others will learn from her mistake. Some critics have called the light sentence “female privilege” because a male predator might have gotten a harsher punishment.
