Court hearing for Cretin-Derham teacher charged with sex misconduct is postponed

Article by: ROCHELLE OLSON , Star Tribune
Updated: December 30, 2009 - 8:44 PM

Hearing for former Cretin teacher pushed to Feb. 1. Her lawyer says she will plead not guilty.

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A Hennepin County pretrial hearing has been rescheduled for Feb. 1 for a former Cretin-Derham Hall weight room supervisor and teacher accused of criminal sexual conduct with a student.

Gail Gagne, 27, of Bloomington, appeared briefly Wednesday in the courtroom of Judge Richard Scherer, but she sat in the audience. Her lawyer, Earl Gray, and assistant Hennepin County Attorney Judith Hawley met behind closed doors with the judge.

Gray and Hawley said later that the pretrial hearing was postponed as the sides gather and share evidence in the case.

Speaking afterward with reporters, Gray said Gagne will plead not guilty.

Gagne turned herself in this month and was released on $50,000 bail.

Gagne did not speak with reporters. Gray declined to comment on what she is doing now or whether she still lives in Bloomington.

"She's a nice young lady that's been accused of a crime she didn't commit," Gray said.

Gagne is the granddaughter of former professional wrestler Verne Gagne and the daughter of wrestler Greg Gagne. She is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for alleged incidents in 2008 with a then-16-year-old student.

According to charges, the male student, who worked under her supervision in the weight room of the St. Paul school, said Gagne took him to her Bloomington home and had oral sex with him. Later, she took him to a hotel near the Mall of America, where the two spent the night and had sex, the complaint said. Police investigated after being called to the school in May.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747