A former Minneapolis charter school teacher has received a life prison term for sexually assaulting several young children.
Aaron Hjermstad, 46, of Brooklyn Center was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting 12 children between 2013 and 2020. His term includes the possibility of parole after 30 years.
“My thoughts ... are solely with the many victims in this case. What they endured as children is nothing short of horrifying,” read a statement from County Attorney Mary Moriarty following Tuesday’s sentencing. “Mr. Hjermstad is being held accountable, and a sentence of this length removes the possibility of further harm at his hands for decades to come.”
Hjermstad taught at several charter schools in the Twin Cities — including the Mastery School and Harvest Best Academy. He also coached boys basketball. Many of his victims were either children he had coached or relatives of those children.
In 2022, Hjermstad was sentenced to 12 years in prison on four charges of criminal sexual conduct. His anticipated release date had been Nov. 21, 2029.
When Hjermstad was originally charged with four counts in 2020, he fled Minnesota and was arrested by police in Idaho. They found “thousands of videos of him assaulting children, some at his Brooklyn Center home,” the charges read.
That data was turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which began an investigation into Hjermstad. The victims in those videos include the 12 children in the later indictment.
The hiring of Hjermstad at the Mastery School, which merged with Harvest Best in 2021, was at the center of a Minnesota Supreme Court decision in February that said schools can be held liable for hiring decisions after sexual assault case.
