Teacher Who 'Made Out' with 11-Year-Old Sobs as She Gets Locked Up

So, we're here today for a plea hearing, is that still the plan? That is, your. honor. [Music]. We have followed Madison Bergmann's case. through every step of the legal process, from the initial reporting that she'd. sexually assaulted an 11-year-old child. to the tacking on of more and more. charges to revelations of just how deep. her obsession with a fifth-grade student. went. Well, now, after initial denials, she has changed her plea, agreeing to. admit her guilt to multiple heinous sex.

crimes. We are taking a closer look at. the biggest moments from her plea. hearing, plus charges that a fellow. teacher at the same school is still. facing. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music]. Madison Bergmann is a name you probably. recognize if you follow us here on. Sidebar. She resigned from Riverside. Elementary School in St. Croix County, Wisconsin in May of 2024 after the. victim's parents brought printed.

screenshots of some of the texts between. their 11-year-old son and his teacher to. the school. And by the way, Bergmann was. actually engaged to be married at the. time. Now, that engagement was quickly. called off when messages like these came. to light. Victim, "Haha bro, I just want. to make out with you." Bergmann, "I do. too, like all the time." Bergmann, "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, "Haha for real, I love to kiss. you on the ground, too. Haha." Bergmann, "I almost kissed you when you were on. the ground today, but I got distracted. by your stomach." Talking stomach, it's. stomach-churning, to say the least. Well, these texts were apparently in. reference to the first time that. Bergmann had. intimate contact with this child, this. boy. According to her criminal.

complaint, quote, "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 happened and. the fact that it was his first kiss. He. then got up, gave Bergmann a hug, and. left the classroom to catch the school. bus." You know, we talk about it a lot, but think about the emotional, mental. impact that something like this is going. to have on a child as he grows up, as he. matures. Talk about it all the time,

particularly when I have on Chris. Hansen. This is a problem. This is really, really, really disgusting stuff. Now, you got to get this. A school resource. officer testified during a preliminary. hearing last year that Bergmann and this. 11-year-old shared more than 30,000. messages with each other. The victim. admitted that he and Bergmann had kissed. several times, touched each other in. class in a way that no one would see. The victim also told the officer about.

love letters and drawings that he and. Bergmann would write to each other. He. said that Bergmann kept all of the. sheets of papers in folders, and these. folders were apparently found in. Bergmann's backpack in her classroom. In. one of those letters, Bergmann allegedly. wrote, "One of my cousins is in the. fifth grade, and I can't imagine a man. talking to her how we talk. I know we. have a special relationship, and I do. love you more than anyone in the world, but I have to be the adult here and. stop.". So, despite that apparent.

acknowledgement that her actions were. wrong, the inappropriate conduct. seemingly continued. At first, Bergmann. was charged with just one count of. sexual contact with a child under age. 13. It's a first-degree child sexual. assault charge. But then there was an. amended complaint, and it added another. nine charges, including charges like use. of a computer to facilitate a child sex. crime, sexual misconduct by school staff. or volunteer, child enticement, which by. the way has a modifier requiring.

lifetime supervision of the defendant as. a serious sex offender. But now we go to the latest. We go to. Monday, September 29th, and that is when. Madison Bergmann, who had been out on. bail, was in court to accept the plea. deal. By the way, if you're a fan of. Sidebar, if you're a fan of Law & Crime, you might be wondering, "How is it that. they're able to share so many clips with. our followers from inside the courtrooms. of our hottest trials?" Well, I'll tell. you what, let you in on a little secret. We use a platform called Opus Clip. This. may be of interest to you. So, it is an.

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like a pro and grow your own audience. So, give it a try for yourself. Go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to start creating your own videos today. Ms. Bergmann is going to enter pleas of. guilty to count three, child enticement. There is a lifetime supervision of. serious sex offenders enhancer on that. at this time. She's also admitting to. that. Count six, sexual misconduct by school. staff, and count eight, sexual. misconduct by school staff.

Based on those pleas, the state is. moving to dismiss but read in all of the. other counts for purposes of sentencing. We are jointly recommending a PSI be. done, and um the state is to cap their. in-custody recommendation at 12 years at. the time of sentencing. Ms. Bergmann, do. you understand what's proposed? I do. Would you stand up, raise your right. hand, and be sworn by the clerk? Do you swear that the testimony I'm. about to give in this matter will be the.

truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. the truth, so help you God? I do. You're going to have to speak up. Yes. Okay, have a seat. Thank you. Bring that microphone up close to you, so that way I can hear you and everyone. else can, okay? Yeah. Thank you. So, first of all, with regard to counts. three, six, and eight in the amended. information, which are child enticement with lifetime. supervision of serious sex offenders,

sexual misconduct by school or staff or. volunteer, and sexual misconduct by. school staff or volunteer, they are class D. and class I felonies, the latter two. Um what is your plea today? Guilty. All. right. In order for the court to. consider whether to accept your guilty. plea, I need to ask you some questions. So, first of all, did you complete this plea. questionnaire and waiver of rights with.

your lawyer? >> I did. And is this your signature and your. lawyer's signature on the second page? It is. Now, did you have a chance to talk to. Mr. Cammarano about the plea. questionnaire? Yes. Did you get all your questions answered? I did. So, the judge walks her through the. questionnaire to make sure that. everything is correct. Are you currently. receiving any treatment for a mental. illness or disorder? No.

Have you had any alcohol, medication, or. drugs in the last 24 hours? Yes. And what have you had? I've had my um. prescribed medication. Okay, and are you. taking taking it according to the. prescription? Yes. Is there anything about that medication. that you know of that would affect your. ability to understand what we're doing. here in court today? No, your honor. All. right. Yeah, the judge wanted to make sure that. Bergmann knew that by pleading guilty,

she was giving up certain rights, the. right to confront witnesses, the right. to present her own evidence. Bergmann. agreed, agreed that she understood. And. the judge went through what the state. would have to prove in order to get a. conviction on the charges she faced if. she had gone to trial. The next thing we need to talk about. are the elements of these particular. crimes. And we'll start with child enticement,

which is count three. Okay. Now, here's why we're doing this, amongst other reasons. One of the. reasons, though, is you're offering a. guilty plea on all three of these. charges. And you're giving up your right to have. a trial and make the state prove up each. of these elements. So, I want you to know what it is. exactly they would have to prove if we. did go to trial, since you're giving up. that opportunity, okay? Yeah. All right.

So, first of all, with regard to child. enticement, the state would have to prove. that you attempted to cause a person to. go into a secluded place, that the person was under the age of 18. years, you attempted to cause the person to go. into the secluded place with intent to. have sexual contact with a child in.

violation of Wisconsin statute 948.02. In addition, because the allegation is. this is an attempt. rather than a completed act, the state would also have to establish. that. that you intended to cause the person to. go into the secluded place for the. purposes of committing one of the listed. crimes and I've stated the one that was. alleged by the state.

The defendant. did acts that demonstrate unequivocally. under all of the circumstances that she. had formed that intent. and that the defendant did the acts that. demonstrate unequivocally under all of. the circumstances that he or she would. commit the crime except for in this case. there's the intervention of another. person or some other extraneous factor. So, those are all the elements. of this particular crime and there's one.

more and that would be that it has to. have occurred in St. Croix County. So, counsel, have we got that correct? That's correct, your honor. That's. correct. All right. So, do you understand all of the. elements of the child enticement crime. that I've just described? Yes. Now, the next. the next two charges.

are identical in terms of the charge but. they allege as I understand it differing. different dates. Different dates, your. honor. Okay. So, let's go through I'm going to go. through the elements in general and then. we'll just specify the dates so you're. clear on that. So, first of all, this is sexual misconduct against a. pupil by a school staff member under. 948.098.

[Music]. The first thing that the state would. have to prove in connection with these. two charges is. that on the specified date. you were a school staff member at in. this case River Crest Elementary School. On the specified date. the victim was enrolled at River Crest. Elementary School as a pupil. And a third,

you committed an act of sexual. misconduct against the victim. Now, sexual misconduct under the statute. means verbal conduct of a sexual nature. or physical contact of a sexual nature. The allegation here is verbal. Correct, your honor. Correct? >> Correct. Verbal conduct of a sexual nature means. communications made intentionally for. the purpose of and in this case I'm. assuming to facilitate.

the crime under 948.02. It wasn't specified. Correct, your. honor, for sexual the intent for sexual. contact. Okay. Now, the last thing I want to mention here is. the stated purpose. that's referenced under the statute for. which the intentional conduct needs to. be established. is for the sexual arousal or sexual. gratification of the victim.

or yourself. Those are the two that seemed applicable. to me. Is that right, counsel? >> That's correct. >> Correct. And intentionally means that you acted. with a mental purpose. to achieve those results. So, in addition to all of that, it would have to be established this. happened in St. Croix County as well. So, counsel, can we confirm I know it's. a new relatively new statute and I would. want to confirm that we've got the. elements correct to your satisfaction.

Agreed. And when the judge addressed what. Bergman's sentence could be, that is when there was a change. Her. seemingly. calm, stoic demeanor. began to crack. She started to tear up a. little bit, dabbed at her eyes with a. tissue. The next thing we need to talk about are. the penalties for these three charges. Now, count three, child enticement,

and and I think counsel has already. pointed out that that includes lifetime. supervision as a serious sex offense as. well. But the penalty under class D felonies. is. imprisonment of up to 25 years and up to. a $100,000 fine. Do you understand that? Yes. Now, with regard to the other two. charges, those are class I felonies.

for which the maximum imprisonment is 3. years and 6 months and a $10,000 fine. Do you understand the penalties that. would apply to each of those other two. charges? Yes. Now, this is. one of the most important moments I. think in our plea colloquy and that is I. want you to understand. that regardless of what's recommended. here by the attorneys, whether it be now.

or at a sentencing hearing later, I could still sentence you up to the. maximum penalties that I've just. described for those three crimes. Do you understand that? Yes, your honor. Now, the other charges are proposed to. be dismissed and read in for purposes of. sentencing. There's a total of 10. charges in the amended information. So,

you're pleading you're offering a plea. to three with seven to be dismissed and. read in. It's important that you. understand what that means. You heard me just describe what the. maximum penalties are for the three. charges for which you've offered a plea. of guilty. I can't sentence you to any greater. penalty. based. upon the dismissed and read in charges.

All right? Yeah. But I can consider the circumstances. surrounding those other charges. as I determine what the appropriate. sentence is. for those three that you've offered your. guilty plea on within the limits. of the maximum sentences that I just. described. Do you understand that? Yes. based upon your plea today to the child. enticement charge. Mr. Camarena points out the requirement.

for sex offender registration as well. That's not normally part of our plea. process. It's not required to be, but. you are fully aware that this particular. charge requires has mandatory lifetime. sex offender registration. Is that. correct? Yes. >> That's correct. Are you fully aware and understand all. those consequences of offering your plea. here today in connection with those. requirements? I do, yes.

Has anyone promised you anything or. threatened you in any way to make these. three pleas? No. Have you had sufficient. time to discuss all these matters with. Mr. Camarena? Yes. Do you have any more. questions for him right now? I do not. So, knowing everything you know sitting. here today and everybody who you talked. to before. and all the thought processes you've. gone through coming here today, do you still wish to offer your guilty.

pleas to these three charges? I do. So, based upon my conversation here. today with Ms. Bergman and my. observations of her here in court, the. court finds that the defendant has. entered into her three pleas knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. with a full understanding of the nature. of the three charges, the maximum. penalties that could be imposed, and the. constitutional rights she's giving up. The court also finds there is a factual. basis for these three pleas based upon.

the agreement of the parties, my own review of the complaint. as well as the preliminary hearing and. motion process that we've undertaken. already in this case. And so, based upon all of those facts, the court finds there is a factual basis. to support these three pleas. The court will accept your three pleas. of guilty and pronounce you guilty. of count three count three, which is. child enticement,

count six, which is sexual misconduct by. a school staff staff member or. volunteer, and count eight, which is. sexual misconduct by a school staff. member or volunteer. The first has a. class D felony, the latter two are class. I felonies. The remaining seven counts are dismissed. by agreement of the parties and read in. for purposes of sentencing. And when it. came time to discuss whether Bergman.

would be able to stay out on bond until. sentencing, the state argued that she. just pled guilty to three felonies, so. it's only appropriate that she be locked. up. >> The court knows now that the guilty. pleas have been entered, she no longer. enjoys that presumption of innocence. that she's enjoyed up until this point. She has pled guilty to three felonies. here today, the highest level being a. class B felony. Um also as the court knows, according to. the plea, the state will be asking for a. lengthy prison sentence in this case.

This is a case that's been in the public. eye. It requires public protection. Ms. Bergman was in a position of power. within the school district, used that to. her advantage on a student, and since. then, uh the investigations have. continued as the court know, and the. case um and other cases have remained in. the public eye. I know Ms. Bergman has participated in. therapy uh at least since October of. last year. She has had a year to engage. in that therapy. I believe she's made.

some progress according to the letter. that was submitted. I don't believe much. further progress can be made or be. beneficial at this stage. Um I believe. the remand is appropriate at this time. Again, without that presumption of. innocence, with the. uh prison sentence that the state will. be asking for, it is it's appropriate at. this time. Bergman's defense, they argued that. she's been a model defendant throughout. this case. Since the time of her initial. appearance in court back in May of 2024,

uh the bond was set, she posted the uh. the bail as well as the as the bond, and. she's remained out of custody. She was. on a GPS device, a global positioning. system device, and she maintained full. compliance with every aspect of her. conditions of release. She never. violated it one time. She and her family. had separate housing for her with her. grandparents to accommodate that. She. kept working. She never had contact with.

children. She kept in contact with me. constantly. So did her family. Mr. Bergman is here in court. She has had. supervision like basically no other. defendant through this process has had. Additionally, on her own, she sought. help. Not only did she go through. therapy, it's much more than that, Your. Honor. As the court might know, I. submitted a letter last week to the. court as well as sealed documents. So, what did she do? Well, first she got a. full psychosexual evaluation. That's not.

an evaluation where someone sits down. for a couple hours and they talk and. take a couple of tests. That's. multi-multi hours of going through. testing over several days, as well as, you know, talking with the psychologist. And based on all of those testings, as. we have submitted to the court and. counsel, she is deemed not a threat to. the public. She has scored very well on. everything. Uh this evaluation was given. to Ms. Otten back in July. Uh we have.

had a number of conversations about this. case, at least three meetings, and I. made it clear to the state that she. wants to plead guilty to some type of. counts in this case. We made that clear. She wants to resolve this matter. There. is a. a significant amount of information that. shows that she was guilty of these. counts, and she has maintained that she. is guilty of these counts, and that's. why she did the psychosexual. After the. psychosexual, she then completed a.

pre-sentence investigation privately so. that the pre-sentence investigator not. only works with her, but as well as go. through all of her family contacts. And. that's clearly established that she has. maintained great ties to the community. and has abided by all conditions of. release. On top of that, Your Honor, as this. court knows, 6 months ago, uh the court. released her from the GPS system because. she had done so well on her conditions.

of release. She never violated one. So, for the last 6 months, uh she's had no. GPS monitoring. And on top of that, Your. Honor, it's not only therapy, it's sex. offender programming. She has had, I. believe at the time of the pre-plea. investigation was submitted or or and or. my letter, it was 39 sessions. That is. in that is a lot of sessions, Your. Honor, that someone would do even before. they enter a plea of guilty, even before.

they admit guilt, even before there is a. conviction. So, basically, other than. the legal issue of uh the presumption of. innocence not applying, nothing has. changed and things have gotten better. This is a person who is actively in. sexual programming. So, for those. reasons, we are respectfully requesting. uh that her conditions of release remain. the same because again, nothing's gotten. worse, it's gotten even better. It's. become better because of everything that.

she has done uh to try to do whatever. she can uh to make this situation uh. better not only legally, as well as to. admit guilt for purposes of the victims. um. hopefully uh to have some type of. closure in this case, as well as for. her. Thank you. And when the judge handed down his. decision about bond, that is when Bergman broke down. I'm going to exercise my discretion to. order she be remanded into the custody.

of the St. Croix County Sheriff. Bond is going to be revoked. as of this moment. Um. and. we will await the 75 days or so. to get the PSI completed. and find out what the outcome here is in. terms of sentencing. Balancing all the factors, I think. that's the most appropriate decision, proper exercise of my discretion.

Now, is there anything else from the. state's point of view that we need to. address. today? Not today, Your Honor. Mr. Cambrino? Nothing else, Your Honor. All right. Then I will see you uh at the sentencing. hearing, and we are adjourned.

Bergman continued sobbing as she was put. into handcuffs and taken into custody. So, to recap real quick, Bergman entered. a guilty plea to child enticement, sexual contact with the sex offender. modifier, counts six and eight, sexual. misconduct by school staff. Now, the. other seven counts were dismissed, but. they were read in for the purposes of. sentencing, which means the judge can. consider the conduct, the allegations. behind those charges when it comes to. how long Bergman will spend in prison.

And since the court revoked Bergman's. bond, she is now in the custody of the. St. Croix County Sheriff's office until. her sentencing, which is scheduled to. happen just before Christmas, December. 22nd, 2025. And according to. prosecutors, they appear to be. requesting up to 12 years in prison for. this woman. Now, as we have reported. previously on Sidebar, Bergman isn't the. only teacher at that same school that. has been charged with sexual misconduct.

That's right. Abigail Faust is accused. of not only allegedly knowing about what. Bergman was up to, but also having her. own inappropriate contact with a. student. So, the 24-year-old was charged. in St. Croix County with failure to. protect a child, causing mental harm to. a child, child enticement, and sexual. misconduct by school staff or a. volunteer. Now, here's the next part of. the story. As news of those charges. spread, you have a family in nearby. Washington County, Minnesota, so it's.

just across the border, they realized. that was their nanny. Yeah, this family. had apparently hired Faust back in 2021. to help watch their children, reportedly. a baby who was just a few months old, a. young girl, and then this boy who was 15. years old when he claims that Faust. started sexually When the family. realized that Faust was being accused of. disturbing conduct with minors, they. contacted police. This teen son, identified in the filings as victim one,

sat down with investigator, a detective, for a forensic interview, and I will. tell you, just divulged sickening. details. Faust's criminal complaint. reads, "I asked victim one how he was. generally feeling since the initial. report of 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. Now, he claims that Faust almost became. like a member of the family. Claims that.

what started as sharing inappropriate. photos eventually led to more, and that. the teen allegedly engaged in sexual. intercourse with Faust. Now, here's the. thing, according to prosecutors, Faust. also allegedly engaged in sexual. misconduct with victim one's friend. Yeah, victim two also apparently came. over, spoke with police, and confirmed. that there was this sexual relationship. with Faust. Now, something to note here,

because some of the alleged contact. between the teens and Faust happened in. Wisconsin, Faust now faces 13 felony. charges there, and we believe a. preliminary hearing is scheduled for. October when the judge, of course, will. decide if there's enough evidence for. the case to go to trial. And according. to Wisconsin court records, it appears. that Faust's parents posted her bail, that she has to wear a GPS monitor, that. she's been ordered not to leave her. house. She's also been told she can't. use the internet unless it's related to.

a virtual court hearing, meeting with. her attorneys, or telehealth. appointments. So, 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 get your podcasts. You can. follow me on Instagram or X. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].