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Anne Knopf
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07/17/2008
A former Prescott, Wis., substitute teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday
of having a sexual affair with her daughter's 13-year-old
ex-boyfriend.
Anne Knopf, 39, was convicted of second-degree sexual assault and was
ordered to stay away from the victim and other boys younger than 18
for five years. She was also sentenced to nine months in jail and
required to register as a sex offender.
But before Pierce County Circuit Judge Robert Wing made his ruling,
the boy's mother stood and read a statement through tears.
"I have lost trust in not only my son, but in everyone," she read.
"Think of my son. How can he possibly have trust in any adult?"
Afterward, she warned parents to know who's talking to their children,
especially online.
The Pioneer Press doesn't usually identify the victims of sexual
assaults and isn't naming the boy or his family.
It was a string of e-mail and instant messages that tipped the boy's
family to the affair. The boy's father had installed a monitoring
program on the boy's computer and found a long exchange between his
son and "Island Girl."
He gave the conversation to police about 4 a.m. May 17.
About three hours earlier, the father had gotten a telephone call from
his ex-wife saying their son and her car were missing, according to
court records. The father found the vehicle parked near Knopf's house.
He knocked on Knopf's door, and she answered wearing a robe, a
criminal complaint said. Knopf told him his son hadn't
been there. He called police.
Officers also went to her house. Knopf told police the boy came to see
her daughter but she had turned him away, the complaint said.
Less than an hour later, officers found the boy walking nearby. His
clothing was clean, but the zipper to his jeans was down. He had
waited outside Knopf's basement while she talked with his father at
the front door, the complaint said.
Investigators determined the seventh-grader had been involved for
about four months with the then-substitute teacher for the Prescott
school district.
According to the criminal complaint, Knopf had sex with the boy in her
basement three to five times while her husband and children slept
upstairs. Although the boy wore a condom, he told investigators sex
with Knopf was accidental.
The boy and Knopf would e-mail back and forth arranging visits. They
also talked about how much they loved and missed one another and how
they'd like to stay on an island together. She called the boy on one
occasion and told him that she couldn't control her feelings and that
what they were doing was wrong, the complaint said.
At Wednesday's hearing, prosecutor John O'Boyle said doing the right
thing was Knopf's responsibility.
"She's the one that's an adult," he said. "She's the one that clearly
should have known better."
Fred Bruno, Knopf's attorney, read from her psychiatrist's report at
Wednesday's hearing. As a result of bipolar disorder, Knopf had been
experiencing "age regression," he said. She had lost weight, had been
acting "silly" and kept the company of children, Bruno said.
But Bruno also emphasized that Knopf regarded her disorder as an
explanation for her actions, not an excuse.
"Ms. Knopf has not for one minute blamed her mental illness," he said.
"She's looked into her heart and blamed herself."
Last week, Brenda K. Baillargeon, of Amery, Wis., was banished from
her town for having a seven-month sexual affair with a 16-year-old boy
and violating previous restraining orders. Baillargeon was the boy's
tutor and a former teacher's aide.
Source:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_9902949
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