Teacher Hid Coworker’s Student Sex Crime While Burying Nanny Job Secrets: Cops

There appears to be something very wrong. at a Wisconsin elementary school. Now, we've told you before about Madison. Bergman, a fifth grade teacher who. resigned after shocking allegations came. to light about her behavior with an. 11-year-old boy. At the time, we knew a. fellow teacher was accused of knowing. about the so-called relationship and not. reporting it. But now, as we learn more. about her, this case has gotten worse. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. There are shocking new details that have.

come to light about a major scandal at. an elementary school in St. Croy County, Wisconsin. You may remember this woman, Madison Bergman, right? She faces nearly. a dozen charges related to sexual. contact with a child under the age of 13. after she allegedly made out with an. 11-year-old boy and carried on a wildly. inappropriate messaging thread with him. Now, Bergman, who by the way had been. set to get married when she was arrested. in May of last year, oversaw a class of. fifth graders at Rivercrest Elementary.

School. Now, we're going to talk more. about her in just a moment, okay? But. when all the details about Bergman. started coming out, there was another. fifth grade teacher, Abigail Faustst, who resigned. Bergman's alleged victim. told police that Faustst knew about what. Bergman was doing and didn't try to stop. it. That alleged victim also revealed. that FA also had inappropriate contact. with a student. And according to the New. York Post, text messages between Bergman. and the boy, of which there are tens of.

thousands, talk about alleged contact. between Faust and another boy when she. allegedly pushed him against a wall and. kissed on the cheek. Faust was charged. in St. Croy County with failure to. protect a child, causing mental harm to. a child, child enticement, and sexual. misconduct by school staff or a. volunteer. As news of those charges. spread, a family in nearby Washington. County, Minnesota, just across the. border, they realized that was their. nanny. That's right. This family had. hired FA back in 2021 to help watch. their children, reportedly a baby who.

was a few months old, a girl who was. around nine, and a boy who was 15 when. he claims FA started sexually abusing. him. And if that allegation just wasn't. heinous enough, the teen claims that FA. also started sleeping with his friend. because some of the alleged contact. between the teens and FA happened in. Wisconsin. Faustst now faces 13 more. charges. So, two counts of use of a. computer to facilitate a child's sex. crime, five counts of secondderee sexual.

assault of a child under 16 years of. age, three counts of child enticement, two counts of exposing a child to. harmful material, and one count of. causing a child under 13 to view or. listen to sexual activity. Now, we got. our hands on the newest criminal. complaint that was filed against her. And honestly, strap in because the. details are very, very disturbing. So, we want to get into this and to dig into. the evidence that the police have. compiled so far. I want to bring on back. here onto the show former criminal. prosecutor Dan Shore. And for anybody. who doesn't know, Dan is also leading a.

sexual misconduct investigation firm uh. that works with schools and educational. institutions. And he is also an author. who has a book that is unfortunately. very similar to the content that we talk. about. Isn't that right, Dan? >> Yeah. It's called Open Bar and it's. about sexual misconduct at educational. institutions. This is a wide-ranging. issue that I see all the time in my work. and the book tries to show behind the. scenes what really happens in these. cases, not just what you see in the. news. So, it's always important to talk. about these issues and it's and I'm glad.

you're covering them. >> So, Dan, before we even get into the. specifics of this criminal complaint, does it surprise you? Does it shock you. that we were talking about two two. alleged predators at one school? Oh, and. that it's what an elementary school, >> right? There's a lot of shocking details. here. And unfortunately, we see in a lot. of cases that when someone does offend, does sexually abuse someone who is a. minor when they're a teacher, there's a. lot of cases where it's not an isolated. situation. If someone feels emboldened.

to engage in that kind of conduct, I've. seen in my investigations both as a. prosecutor and as an investigator for. college and universities, that often. there's a history of misconduct. And. that's why when there is one allegation, it's really important for schools to. look into and for law enforcement to. look into what else has been happening. in this person's career. And you also. had a separate allegation that this. teacher at another school had known. about another inappropriate relationship. with that someone else was engaged with. and hadn't properly disclosed that. So,

there's so much to unpack here. Unfortunately, a lot of disturbing. details. >> You know, as we're talking about this, I. have to tell you, I cover crazy stories. all day and I'm not going to lie to you. It really makes me stop and think about. myself, my loved ones, family. If. something should happen, would my family. still be able to cover the big expenses, right? We're talking mortgage, utilities, day-to-day bills. Look, I. know life insurance is definitely not. something that you want to be thinking. about. But the truth is, life is hard to. predict and it is crucial to start.

looking for options before anything bad. happens. The problem is traditional life. insurance, it always felt very. complicated and intimidating. A lot of. paperwork, waiting around. Sometimes you. have medical exams, but with Ethos, it. really couldn't be easier. Why? Ethos is. an online platform that helps you get. life insurance in as little as 10. minutes. It's completely online. There. are no medical exams. You just answer a. few health questions. And what really. stands out to me about Ethos is how fast. and affordable it is. You can get same. day coverage without ever leaving your.

house. And some policies, they start as. low as $2 a day. It is build monthly. You can even get up to $3 million in. coverage. And you can customize a plan. that works for your budget. Look, the. way I see it, it's all about peace of. mind, right? Knowing your family has. financial security. That makes all the. difference to protect your family with. life insurance through ethos. That's the. idea. Get your free quote at. ethos.com/ssidebar. That is ethos.com/sidebar. So, according to this criminal complaint.

against FA, and that's what we're going. to talk about, you had a St. Croy, a. Wisconsin detective who met with the. parents of a boy referred to as victim. 1. And they disclosed that Abigail. Faustst had been their nanny a few days. a week since 2021, and that their son. claimed when he was 15 and she was 24, their relationship took a sexual turn. Victim one sat down with the detective. for a forensic interview and divulged. absolutely. sickening details. The criminal. complaint reads, "I asked victim one how.

he was generally feeling since the. initial report of his sexual abuse was. made." He stated, "Kind of gross, that. he felt manipulated and that he felt. kind of used." Victim one became. emotional and I could see tears well up. in his eyes. He recounted how Abigail. over time became almost a member of the. family. Victim one described how she. would join the family when they went to. their cabin and more recently join them. on a vacation to the Bahamas. Before the. sexual abuse began, he described his. relationship with Abigail as normal. She.

would often sit with him while he played. video games and helped him organize his. manga collection. Victim one stated that. the relationship changed in December of. 2024. Now, Dan, this is interesting, right? So, you're seeing based on this. account, Faustst is seeing this teen a. few times a week, right? You could say. that maybe becoming more comfortable. around her, but the onus is on her to. keep this relationship professional. He's a child. Would you consider what. we've heard so far normal activities? Is. the allegation that this would look like.

grooming? Um, and how do you. differentiate between that and just. doing her job as a nanny? I mean, that's. the line there, >> right? And you flag a lot of important. issues there because first of all, mo. most sex abuse, not all, but most sex. abuse that I've investigated involves. someone who is in a trusted position. And it could be a trusted person who's a. teacher or a coach or a relative or. someone who someone's in some kind of. relationship with who then abuses the.

privacy of that relationship and take. sexual advantage of another person. So. unfortunately it's not unusual to see a. sex abuse case where someone is trusted. by a family, put in a position of trust. and abuses that trust. I think what. makes it more unusual here is you have a. 24 year old woman who is a nanny taking. care of a family and according to the. allegations then starts a sexual. relationship with a 15-year-old. the. part where in hindsight we could look. back at it as grooming, sitting with. him, looking through different, you. know, details of his life, talking about. it. That's something that I think as a.

family hiring a nanny that you welcome, right? You want the nanny to be part of. your family, interact with your family, be supportive of your family. And. unfortunately, if these allegations are. true, that access to the family led to. taking advantage of this 15-year-old. boy. And I think it's really important. that now as a society, we've reached a. point where we do take cases like this. seriously. When I started my career as a. sex crimes prosecutor 25 years ago, I. think a lot of people did not take it. seriously when cases like this involved. an underage boy and a defendant who's a. woman, it was often seen as this wink.

wink. Oh, I'm sure he wanted it cuz he's. a teenage boy. And I think now we've. recognized as society that this is. serious sex abuse that it can traumatize. a young boy just like it can traumatize. a young girl and needs to be taken. seriously and that's different than it. was a few years ago. >> So, let me go through this a little bit. more. So according to victim one, he and. Faustst were going through each other's. memories on the Snapchat app. And this. is when victim one came across a photo. of Faust holding her breasts in a. provocative way. She was clothed in the. photo according to the complaint. But it.

led to further sexually charged. conversations between the two. That's. the allegation. And that also allegedly. led to more inappropriate messages and. photos from FA where she was wearing. lingerie. This is according to the teen. And the victim says that FA mentioned. multiple times that she knew this. behavior was wrong. Quoting from the. criminal complaint later, as her sexual. abuse of victim one escalated, victim. one recalled Abigail framing it as, "You. know this is bad. I know this is bad, and we'll both get into trouble if you.

tell anyone." So, when the two allegedly. exchanged nude photos on this Snapchat. app, he recalled her messaging him, "I. can't believe I'm looking at a picture. of a 15-year-old's genitals." He. remembered her also saying through. Snapchat, "I'm feeling grossed out at. myself." Victim one recalled many. instances where Abigail would in summary. voiced to him her realization that she. was doing something improper. Now, Dan, knowledge is important in these cases, right? Compulsion. I I don't know what. it is. If you know it's wrong, why are.

you doing it? But awareness that becomes. critical for prosecutors. It certainly is important to show. consciousness of guilt, to show. awareness, but it's also important to. know that these crimes are statutory. crimes. Statutory rape is a is a generic. term for when there's an underage person. and someone who's over the age of. consent and there's a sexual. relationship that is illegal. And in. those kinds of cases, it's not a defense. generally in the law that the person. wasn't aware the person was younger, although in this case, of course, she.

was aware. It's really a case of just. was there sexual contact between these. individuals. Was one person underage and. that's enough to make it a conviction. but certainly all the awareness. I think. that would go maybe not towards the. conviction because a conviction is based. on the sexual activity and the ages but. sentencing that someone was aware that. it was wrong that they were doing it. further. I also want to add I have a lot. of investigations with Snapchat and it's. really tough as an investigator to deal. with these cases with Snapchat because. the the messages disappear. It's hard to. get them. And a lot of people in these. relationships use Snapchat to cover up.

their communications. >> Aren't they on the server though? Like, don't they never really disappear? >> Well, Snapchat has different responses. to different people. Certainly, law. enforcement can try to get them. Sometimes they do get them, but. certainly for someone making a case to. law enforcement where they don't have. those records, it's a lot harder. I know. as an investigator where I work with. schools and they don't have subpoena. power, we don't have access to the. Snapchat record. So law enforcement can. do a lot here and they're doing it here, but it they'll it's very dangerous the. way people are communicating so much. over Snapchat in these sexual.

relationships involving sexual abuse. because then you don't have a record. where you could show a friend, show a. family member, show a teacher and say, "Look, here's what's happening." Because. those messages are gone. >> Real quick, more psychological than. anything, if somebody knows this is. wrong, why do they keep doing it? >> That's a great question. I think that. criminologists are always trying to. figure that out. Sometimes it can be the. temptation of being in the relationship. with somebody else. And also people. commit sex abuse for various reasons. Sometimes it's because they were victims. of sex abuse when they were younger.

Sometimes it's other mental health. issues that they feel lonely in their. lives that they were reaching out to. somebody. And sometimes it's about power. and control. That's a big motivator in. sex abuse cases I've seen where someone. likes the position of being in power and. control over someone who is a. subordinate or someone who's younger or. someone who's a student versus a. teacher. And that's unfortunately a. motivator for a lot of people that are. committing sex abuse. >> Let's continue on. So earlier this year, this is when things escalated immensely. And this is when FA started spending the. night at victim 1's home. Okay, this is.

the new allegation. Quote, on. approximately January 17th, 2025, victim. 1 recalled Abigail staying over at his. house for the first time. I asked him. how that came about. He indicated that. Abigail would ask him and his sister to. encourage their parents on Abigail's. behalf. He described Abigail staying. over several more times for the next few. months. Now, when FA would sleep over, victim one alleges that they eventually. started having sex. He says on one. occasion, the condom that he was wearing. broke, and the two worried about whether.

FA might get pregnant and what they. would do if she did. But FA also. allegedly made comments about wanting to. be in a committed relationship with him. and eventually have children with him. Now, the detective wrote in the criminal. complaint, "I asked victim one how he. felt about his relationship with Abigail. at that time. He said that he felt in. summary that they were both in an. exclusive and loving relationship. They. shared pet names like Honey, Baby, Babe, and Sweetheart." Victim one said that. there were occasions when he was holding. his younger brother where Abigail would.

remark that someday he would be taking. care of their own child in the same. manner. In April this year, victim one. and his family, they went on a trip to. Florida, apparently, while FA had been. hired to pets it. But she was allegedly. using the family's home for more than. just hookups with victim one. She. brought one of his friends there, too. According to prosecutors, victim one. told investigators that he was worried. that FA might be quote cheating on him. with another teen based on Snapchat. photos that he'd seen of a boy. identified only as victim 2 and a woman. believed to be FA. Now, victim two would.

later tell detectives that while victim. one was out of town, he ended up. stranded and needed a ride. So, he. called FA and she gave him a ride to his. home and nothing happened then, but the. two started meeting up and spending more. and more time together before eventually. engaging in sexual intercourse. And. victim 2 told police that he spent the. night with FA at both her home and. victim 1's home while the family was. away. The criminal complaint even. alleges that when FA found out that. victim one had started seeing a girl his.

own age, she tried to pit the boys. against each other, taunting victim one. with details about her exploits with his. friend. I wish I was making this up, but. this is what we're reading. And despite. this, victim one claims that their. sexual relationship resumed over this. past summer when FA was still nannying. for his family. And in July, the two. were nearly caught having sex during a. family trip to their cabin. And victim. one told detectives he believes his. parents were starting to get suspicions. about his relationship with FA. In.

August, his mother told him that he had. to stop hanging out with FA. He should. cut all contact. Victim one says that FA. came to his job, gave him a t-shirt, something that he took as a parting. gift. They kissed for the last time. And. later that day, FA texted him that she. had a warrant out for her arrest. That. was the warrant for her conduct at. Rivercrest Elementary. Now, despite. that, the two still continued to send. messages back and forth. But when his. parents found out about those Wisconsin. charges on the news, they fired FA.

First, let's stop there. Dan, where do. you want to begin? I mean, my gosh, that. is next level. You know, on the one. hand, it's so shocking to hear all those. details you way way the way you lay them. out. But also, this is if you look at it. in a more general way, this is typical. grooming behavior where someone. ingratiates themselves with a family, becomes trusted, becomes trusted by this. person, then abuses that trust, begins a. sexual relationship. What we generally. don't see is the additional victim who's. also a friend of the first boy and then.

engaging in sexual relations with that. person at the family's home. Then you. have the other issue at the school. So. what you see here, you raised the issue. before about why do people do things. when they know it's wrong. Well, here if. the allegations are true. It's not just. about being tempted by one person. It's. about a pattern of misconduct with more. than one person. And it shows that. there's not only an awareness of this, but an interest in continuing these. types of relationships with more than. just this one boy at this family. So. that is even more concerning. That's.

going to lead to, you know, she's facing. criminal charges in more than one state. And you could definitely see consecutive. time potentially if there's a conviction. here. >> and and potential witnesses that would. testify against her, right? Cuz victim. one had apparently confided also in a. friend about what had been going on with. FA and that friend eventually told their. parents who apparently told the alleged. victim's parents too who came to him. about it. So you have multiple people. who cor can corroborate essentially. right what victim one has been saying. Not only that, but you also when.

whenever you have more than one victim. who is willing to give an account, that's really hard for a defense to. attack because you could always attack. one person as, oh, they're not credible, they have a motive to lie. But when two. different people have similar claims and. it's hard to believe that two separate. people would come together to fabricate. something and also when they talk about. the same pattern of behavior and then. there's also the other corroboration you. mentioned. That's really challenging for. a defense to try to stop from, you know, the prosecution getting a conviction. >> And victim 1's mother also approached FA.

herself. Yes. So, according to the. criminal complaint, the detective said, "I briefly conversed with victim 1's. mother. She told me that she had called. Abigail on August 22nd, 2025 to confront. her. She asked Abigail if she had sex. with victim one." Victim one's mother. said that Abigail would not answer the. question and instead stated that it was. not a conversation meant to be had over. the phone. It's pretty telling, right? >> Yeah. I mean, usually if you were going. to ask someone if they're having sex. with your underage son, you would expect. the answer to be no. So, anything that's.

wavering from that is not an explicit no. would imply. You would think that. something something is going on, right? If otherwise you would just say that. So, if it's not a discussion to have. over the phone, that's pretty telling. So, and that that's important evidence. that this mother can testify that this. is although it's not an explicit. admission, it's tantamount to an. explicit admission. >> And yes, it's an allegation, but my. gosh, it's just it's next level. Um, now, according to Wisconsin's court. records, FA preliminary hearing is.

scheduled for October 15th. She was. given a $200,000 cash bond. It's not. clear if she's been able to post it. Do. you surprise that they put up a bond? And and what about in that amount? I'm not surprised even though this is. really disturbing behavior. There's, you. know, we don't know of a criminal record. this defendant has. A lot of times the. amount is based on whether someone's a. flight risk or not, whether they're a. danger to hurt somebody else. It's in. the news now a lot. So, I think the. community will be aware of what she's.

alleged to have done. So, it seems like. a reasonable amount. And this is the. part where they'll probably get into. serious plea negotiations between the. prosecution and the defense because. there's a lot of evidence here. And most. of these cases get resolved through a. plea agreement. >> and enough to go through a preliminary. hearing, right, to establish that. there's probable cause to move forward. with the case. I mean, I think we've. laid out a lot of allegations at this. point. And there seems to be enough to. even move through that stage, right? >> Yeah. Probable cause is a very low. standard. And just having one victim. allege that there was sex with someone.

who was over the age of consent while. they were under the age of consent, that's enough to establish probable. cause in any form. >> Okay. Okay, so I want to circle back to. that original teacher, right, whose. allegations sparked these. investigations, Madison Bergman. So, she. has entered a not-uilty plea to multiple. child sex abuse charges. And according. to a school resource officer who. testified at Bergman's preliminary. hearing, talking about preliminary. hearings, uh, this happened last year, she and an 11-year-old male student.

shared more than 33,000. messages with each other. Think about. that. And some of these skin crawling. texts, probably the best way to describe. it, they were revealed in court. documents. For example, this exchange. Victim says, "Haha, bro. I just want to. make out with you." Bergman responds, "I. do too, like all the time." Bergman. allegedly responds, "Also, today when. you said I know you're mad, but I want. to kiss you. Oh my gosh, I wanted to. grab your face and just push you to the. floor and make out with you." Victim.

responds, "Haha, for real? I love to. kiss you on the ground, too." Haha, Bergman, I almost kissed you when you. were on the ground today, but I got. distracted by your stomach. Now, those. texts were apparently in reference to. the first time that Bergman had intimate. contact with this boy. And according to. a criminal complaint, when the other. kids left the classroom, she approached. him and kissed him on the mouth. He. described himself as sitting on the. ground immediately after the kiss, as he. couldn't believe that it had happened. and the fact that it was his first kiss. He then got up, gave Bergman a hug, and.

left the classroom to catch the school. bus. Now, the victim admitted that he. and Bergman had kissed several times. The victim also told the officer about. love letters and drawings that he and. Bergman would write to each other. He. said Bergman kept all the sheets of. paper and folders. Those folders were. found in Bergman's backpack, by the way, in her classroom. Dan, first of all, I. think you're getting just like. destroying innocence. I think that's. like a good way to describe these. allegations. And if this is all true, what effect does this have on someone?

>> Absolutely. If someone is that young and. they're in a sexual relationship with a. teacher, not only are they too young to. be having a healthy relationship of any. sort with anybody, but there's someone. in authority who's taking physical and. emotional and sexual advantage of them. And that's going to make it hard for. that person as they grow up to. understand how healthy sexual and. romantic relationships work. It's very, very concerning. and disturbing. Another. thing is it's really it's really tough.

from a parent perspective when a teacher. violates trust like this because so much. of the communication with kids that age. is listen to your teacher. Do what your. teacher says. I have an 11-year-old. child and we just got a bunch of. instructions from the school for the new. school year. And I I was just thinking. about this the other day cuz one of them. said, "Make sure you listen to your. teachers." That's what people are always. told. And then when your teacher's. telling you things related to sexual. interactions that are extremely. dangerous and inappropriate for an. 11-year-old or anyone who's underage, it's hard to figure out, well, I was. told to listen to my teacher. How am I.

supposed to know that this is wrong? And. that's why it's really important to talk. with children about this. But when when. someone abuses the trust as a teacher, it makes a lot of confusion in that. underage child for them to sort out. And. they might not have a family structure. where they feel comfortable going to. them, getting help, reporting it. There's a lot of shame involved. People. don't want to talk to their parents. about sexual interactions at any point. in their lives usually. So, there's a. lot of complications here that help. people get away with this kind of. misconduct. >> Let me ask you about this. So, in court, uh, Bergman's defense attorney tried to.

argue that sexual contact charges. against her should be thrown out because. while there may have been inappropriate. physical contact, neither ever touched. the other's genitals. The judge denied. that motion, bound the case over for. trial. Um, and by the way, Bergman is. currently out on bond with strict. conditions like an ankle monitor, orders. to stay away from the young alleged. victim. Um, are you surprised by that? >> I'm not surprised they're making that. argument. I don't think it's a winning. argument. There's a lot of intimate. contact that goes beyond just touching. someone's genitals. Kissing someone.

could certainly be a very intimate. sexual act. Touching people in other. ways, other parts of the body. I I had I. prosecuted a case once where someone was. asleep on a train and someone just came. up and started kissing them on the mouth. with their tongue. and that was a. conviction based on sex abuse even. though it wasn't touching someone's, you. know, breasts or genital area. So, I. don't think that's a winning argument at. all, but I'm not surprised that the. defense is making that. Maybe they're. hoping to reduce the charges or get a. better plea bargain by asserting that. >> Let me tell you, Bergman and FA, they.

could face quite some time in prison if. they are convicted, but uh we will. continue to monitor it. Uh Dan Shore, thank you so much for coming on. Good. seeing you. >> You too, Jesse. Thanks for talking about. this with me. It's a really interesting. and important case. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. Follow me on. Instagram X. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see. you next time. [Music].