School Guidance Counselor Accused of Sexually Abusing 7th Grade Student: ‘Lap Dances’

a guidance counselor is now accused of. sexually abusing and Performing lap. dances on a 13-year-old boy behind. closed doors as she faces serious. criminal charges how is this alleged. abuse discovered and where could this. case go from here we break that all down. with former sex crimes prosecutor. Kathleen Bogen shoots welcome to sidebar. presented by law on crime I'm Jesse. Weber.

I think it was last week when I said I'm. sure we haven't heard the last of. Educators accused of sexual misconduct. no no no no no no and sometimes it seems. like I don't know it's only getting. worse because now we have 47-year-old. Connecticut guidance counselor Louisa. melon accused of giving a lap dance to a. 13-year-old student in her office. performing other sex acts with him and. also sending him naked pictures yeah she. had also worked at the Nathan Middle.

School in Norwalk the married mother of. three has been arrested for second. degree sexual assault and two counts of. risk of injury to a minor in my. understanding these are very serious. felonies that can carry potentially. years in prison she has resigned from. that school district it's also been. reported that her husband has filed for. divorce and is now seeking custody of. their children and one of them. reportedly is just 2 years younger than. the alleged victim in this case so how. did this all come about how was this.

brought to the surface well according to. the Norwalk Police Department they. opened this investigation in April and. that is when they received a complaint. and Reporting indicates that the. defendant had given her phone to a. friend a fellow teacher because. apparently his phone wasn't working and. that's when he allegedly found all of. these sexually explicit text messages. with this boy so the friend reportedly. then tells police investigators. reportedly speak with the boy who. allegedly confirmed that guidance.

counselor had in fact sent him nude. photos and even says she paid for his. Uber rides and food for him even gave. him $100 over the Christmas holiday. according to Mel olan's attorney she has. posted a $500,000 Bond she was released. from jail reporting indicates she's on. house arrest she can't have any. unsupervised contact with minors except. her three younger children and for this. I want to bring on right now criminal. defense attorney and former sex crimes. and child abuse process cut Kathleen.

Bogen shoots Kathleen thank you so much. for coming on where does this rank of. course where does this rank in terms of. the cases that you have seen and by that. I mean I know it seems like every week. I'm talking about another case that may. be worse than the next but this one is. again another instance of not only. alleged abuse but blatant abuse in the. open right right and some of the. information that we have is that she was. even perpetrating on this child while.

she was in her office and I can't. imagine the guidance counselor's offices. have locks on the door although in the. age of school shootings maybe uh but. certainly some of these other guidance. counselors people with their offices. around should have known or should have. been uh logging the fact that he was. spending an inordinate amount of time in. her office one would assume well and. apparently she had closed the blinds. made sure the door was closed which just. makes this even more Sinister and creepy.

but that might also be why it was hard. for people to know what was going on. right right and of course she made the. consumate or the error that that most. people committing these kinds of. offenses make and that is by. using their phone um because no matter. what you delete it can generally be. retrieved or at least something can be. retrieved and the fact that this other. teacher found these things and reported. it kudos to him uh right also note that.

uh it appeared and I'm going to couch it. that way on one of the articles I read. that her husband had filed for divorce. before this other teacher went through. the phone that the investigation started. in April and the husband had filed for. divorce in February and the child had. switched to a different Middle School in. February yeah let me let me work on the. timing everybody well let me work on the. timing so apparently this happened. allegedly happened over a period of time.

this abuse happening on school grounds. in her office and this reportedly this. abuse uh began in the spring of 2023. ended in February 2024 when the boy. transferred schools and the boy. apparently told police that this abuse. would as I said happen behind closed. doors the blinds would be lowered are. you surprised a that this happened over. such a long period of time and B it took. this long for the school and authorities. to find out what was going on.

on I'm not surprised uh you would be. shocked at what people don't know goes. on under their own roofs at home uh it. it can be very difficult to meet with. the parents of a victim who are beside. themselves because they knew nothing and. kids are good at hiding things and. perpetrators are good at hiding things. and generally speaking if you're going. to perpetrate on a child you need a. couple of different things to intersect. you need to have the opportunity meaning.

you need access to the child and of. course being a guidance counselor that. was built in for her um and you need the. means you need the ability to keep uh. that child separate from others you. don't generally commit these crimes in. front of other people so it's not super. shocking to me that something like that. would have been able to keep a secret. for that long I am surprised that uh and. I would have to see like a floor plane. of the school or something like that I'm. surprised that somebody else didn't you. know have some spidey sense about this.

this kid is spending too much time in. this office they're closing the windows. the door is closed the lights are off. weird stuff like that that there wasn't. a secretary or somebody like that that. kind of logged that's weird hey. everybody I just want to take a quick. second to thank upside for sponsoring. this episode of sidebar so upside is a. free app that gets you cash back on. daily Essentials like gas groceries. dining now believe it or not I do know. how to pump my own gas I don't know if. that was controversial or not but when I. do I can use the upside app why not get.

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engaging in this kind of conduct. right unfortunately um you would think. that being a mother or uh being married. would insulate people from this but it. it tends not to um I I would also note. that there's quite uh frequently um at. least in my state and I practice in. Florida um there are enhancements so. it's always bad to perpetrate on a. 13-year-old if you're 47 but if if. you're in a position of authority over.

that child it enhances how uh serious. the offense is um and I'm sure that's. something that that the uh prosecutor in. this case is looking at yeah no I think. I was just covering a case out in New. Jersey uh last week where there was a. crime of sexual assault um because of. that position of power and in that state. that's what it's classified as that. relationship when investigators speak. with this victim this boy what is that. conversation like how challenging is it.

to extract that information from someone. that. young so it's always difficult um what I. uh often used to I used to go talk to. some of the police officers especially. the ones that were right out of the. academy and I used to tell them that if. they thought something had happened with. a child to somehow get a female in there. even if you have male children and. whether it's just the fact that we tend. to spend most of our time with our. mothers growing up or that it's there's. something like a little bit less. intimidating about telling a female.

generally speaking you will have a. forensic interviewer who's a female with. a child um I've seen some good male. interviewers but I'm I'm just speaking. in generalities um the other thing is. that it's so difficult to get boys to. disclose these things um in in in. comparison to girls um I think that it. is extremely underreported when it comes. to boys and when you think about like an. older woman perpetrating on a younger. boy I mean he.

it might take him years to figure out my. God I was a major victim in this my God. she took so many things away from me um. and right now it might be something that. he doesn't even want to participate in. so it it can be very very difficult with. uh and I I've had a couple of uh serious. cases where it's been an older female. perpetrating on a younger male um very. difficult to get them to the point where. they would want to testify in court even. with the protections that are often. afforded victims of sex crime in court. where you can close the courtroom you.

can if there's any sort of uh media. there you cannot show their face you can. do all kinds of things to try to protect. their identity. but you also don't want to be the guy or. the girl as a prosecutor who's forcing a. victim to do something against their. will when they've already been forced to. do something against their will so it's. a very fine line there and this is. incredibly traumatic and damaging no. matter who the victim is and. particularly at that young age it's you.

know our hearts go out to them because. you don't know what effect this is going. to have on their life um and it's just. not fair it's not fair that they were. exposed to this and had to become a. victim um because again it's it's an. unthinkable situation uh you go for a. guidance counselor 47 years old that's. what the allegation is generally. speaking and I know every case is. different um there's different. motivations for why someone would engage. in this conduct or alleged conduct what. are some of the reasons you've seen that. people in this position of authority and.

Educators do. this it so are you asking me what my. opinion is or the stories they have told. themselves stories they stories they've. told or or or you know rationale they. put forward right I mean it's like you. could even go back to the Mary Kay lero. we're in love this is my soulmate this. 13-year-old boy is my soulmate um I've. never known love like this despite being. married with Children um it could be. that uh a mental health issue that maybe.

has not been addressed for example. bipolar disorder um which is uh over. represented among all criminal. defendants and uh two even more overes. uh represented on sex crimes defendants. that in a manic State you can be overly. um you can you can uh seek out. inappropriate sexual contact uh while in. that manic state of course it's always. against the law to perpetrate on a child. and to uh do things against someone's.

will but I I I have seen that as uh when. somebody gets on medication they somehow. even out and can't believe what they've. done even though they have a memory of. it by the way um prosecutors have said. they've notified the Connecticut. Department of Children and Families. about this these charges this. investigation in cases like this is it. likely she will lose custody of her. children I mean what happens by the way. if the charges are dropped or what. happens if she's acquitted how does this. affect her custody uh with her husband. or ex-husband. so um Criminal Court different than.

family court different than um what. might be dependency Court Family Court. would be where the uh divorce and child. custody proceedings are happening I. would expect that there would be some. kind of either a dependency action or. some kind of a seus investigation into. this family as well just because of the. nature of these allegations and the fact. that there are these three minor. children in her home so those are both. civil proceedings with lower um lower.

standards of proof um than beyond the. exclusion of every Reasonable Doubt. which is what you would see in a. criminal case so uh I I would also. Venture that uh the state or the. prosecutors um have looked at the. evidence in this case and they have. decided what they could prove if they. didn't want to put the victim on the. stand because some of those texting. things you could have his parents. authenticate the cell number you could. use some uh you could do latitude and.

longitude as to where and when these. things were sent you could you could try. to do things that would not put the kid. on the stand or make him testify um but. would still achieve what you want to. achieve which is potentially a prison. sentence and maybe a designation as a. sexual offender or predator and let's. let's expand upon that a little bit. first I'll ask you about the defense. here because these are very very serious. allegations but they are allegations and. her attorney Mark Sherman released the. following statement quote Louisa is.

still very much entitled to the. presumption of innocence these are just. accusations what we do know is that. these are charges are being brought. against a devoted wife and mother who. has dedicated over 20 years to her. profession and it's going to take some. time to investigate this case what do. you make of that kind of statement and. what are potential defenses for her. here well I I don't know if I would have. made that statement myself if I were uh. defending her uh she is entitled to the. presumption of innocent that that part.

is fine uh but who know usually when. when something like this comes out other. people come out of the woodwork. um it's generally not just one or there. may be somebody else she did something. inappropriate with but it's not quite. chargeable and in quite quite often in. sex offense cases you will see things. like uh it's called Williams rule in. Florida it's similar fact evidence um. particularly when it when it comes to. sex crimes people people have certain.

predilections um indicating that this. may not have been the first time now we. have no evidence of that here today I'm. just saying that she had so much access. to so many children for so many years. that uh there are going to be. unfortunately a lot of parents having uh. some very serious discussions with their. sons and daughters you talked about how. this could shake up would you see a. plead deal in this case and obviously. there would be an advantage to having a. deal a plea deal so you don't have to. take this to trial so you don't have to.

expose this victim whenever this trial. happens they'd still be trying to. recount what happened to them as a as a. young child um having to take the stand. but at the same time if you're taking. you're putting a plea deal on the table. I would imagine she would be pleading. guilty not to the maximum here so what. would a deal look like here so I don't. know what the maximums are on these. charges if she were charged in Florida. should be charged with first decree. felonies just based on her position of. authority in the crimes committed so in. my State she'd be looking at uh 30 years.

as a maximum sentence um I would expect. that there would be some kind of either. jail or prison time it depends on what. mitigating factors are presented like I. said I've seen some very good mitigation. with bipolar disorder not to the extent. that you would completely forgive the. offense but that uh there I've seen uh. plenty of hearings for mitigation. regarding uh people who are acting out. sexually and once they get on the. correct medication. for them they are absolutely horrified.

of what they've done so um it it would. really depend on on that factor as well. I I could see um a prison or jail. sentence with a sex offender probation. afterward requiring a psychosexual. evaluation all recommended followup a. lengthy term of probation where she's. not alone with any minors um they did. make the uh exception for her younger. children um but that being said I mean. she could be on probation for 15 years.

when she has grandchildren even right so. uh it really um I'm very sorry for her. family as well yeah for this and for for. her own children they're suffering in. this as well that can't be ignored that. can't be understated and I do want to. close this out by asking about the. school and the school district's. responsibility here because uh Norwalk. Public Schools they released a statement. saying the safety of our students is our. first concern and how she's no longer. employed by Norwalk public schools and.

that Norwalk Public Schools is. cooperating with the police and. Department's investigation they also. said they have no further comment and. according to news2 Connecticut um she. was fired six weeks after the school. district was first told about this. investigation and I have to ask if. that's true is that too long do they. face any liability here in terms of. hiring her keeping her employed um. because again it's a fair question to. ask when you think about what the. allegations are here yeah it is.

absolutely a fair question um I do note. that they didn't say she was still at. the school during those six weeks she. could have been suspended with pay. without pay while they did an internal. investigation and tried to satisfy. whatever collective bargaining agreement. she had in the teachers union so that. they weren't illegally firing her. without any kind of explanation that's. what I would expect the six weeks were. but if they had left her in a. classroom the the liability blinds me. yeah that is uh that's crazy to think.

about um and we'll see just a really you. know I don't even know it seems like. every time I cover these cases it's. shocking me but it's also not shocking. me what's happening across this country. unfortunately I don't know what's going. on um debate about whether it's getting. worse or it's just being Amplified and. more reported but whatever it is it's. really really sick stuff um Kathleen. Bogen think it's a com combination. combination you think it's a combination. of what's going it's reported more often.

easier to catch and better evidence with. cell phones that's fair that yeah cell. phones my gosh so much of it is captured. on there whether it's the communications. or you know worse uh video and um audio. um evidence as well uh Kathleen Bogen. shoots thank you so much for coming on. really appreciate it thanks for having. me all right everybody that's all we. have for you right now here on sidebar. thank you so much for joining us and as. always please subscribe on Apple podcast. Spotify YouTube wherever you get your. podcast I'm Jesse Weber me to you next.

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