Former Bloomington teacher's aide charged with criminal sexual conduct

Police say that Dawne Lejeune Schwartz, 35, had an ongoing sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that began last November.

By AIMÉE BLANCHETTE, Star Tribune

Last update: March 5, 2009 - 11:20 PM

A former Bloomington substitute teacher's aide has been charged with criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with a Kennedy High School student.

Police say that Dawne Lejeune Schwartz, 35, had an ongoing sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that began last November.

Schwartz allegedly told someone she had been sleeping with the student and showed the individual explicit text messages she and the student had sent each other. That person, whom police did not identify, then contacted the high school principal, who called police.

Initially, Schwartz denied having a relationship with the student but admitted to sending sexually explicit text messages to him, police said. Later, Schwartz told police she had been seeing the boy since November and that they had sex on approximately 10 occasions at both her Bloomington home and at the boy's home while his parents were gone, according to a criminal complaint. Schwartz is also a friend of the boys' parents and admitted she often drove him back and forth to school and took him to movies.

Schwartz was fired Feb. 12 from her job when the allegations were brought to the attention of the high school's administration, said district spokesperson Rick Kaufman. She has been issued a summons to appear in court, though no date has been set, a Bloomington police spokesman said. In the meantime, she is cooperating with authorities and she has not been arrested, the spokesman said.

Schwartz, who also was a parent volunteer at the high school, had been with the district for four years and had passed background checks both for her employment and as a volunteer, Kaufman said.

If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison, a $30,000 fine, or both.

A call to Schwartz's home in Bloomington was not returned.

Aimée Blanchette • 612-673-1715

Staff writer Paul Walsh also contributed to this story.

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