A New Jersey teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student over four years, beginning when the boy was 11, and later giving birth to his child. Laura Caron, 36, entered the plea this week to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child with sexual conduct at a court in Cape May, New Jersey.
Abuse Spanned Four Years
Caron, a fifth-grade teacher and basketball coach at Middle Township Elementary School #2, met the child after teaching his older sister. His parents noticed their daughter was excelling under Caron's mentorship and wanted the same for their son. She grew close to the family, befriending his mother and even being allowed to sleep overnight.
Beyond taking the children to basketball practices and assisting them with homework, Caron was secretly sexually assaulting the boy. She fell pregnant while staying at their home full-time and gave birth to a daughter in 2019, when she was 28 and the boy was 13.
Discovery and Arrest
Caron kept teaching after giving birth, and for years no one suspected the baby belonged to the teenage boy until December 2024. His father saw a photo of her as a toddler and noticed a profound likeness to his own son, posting about it on Facebook. The school's superintendent contacted authorities, and DNA evidence linked the boy with the little girl.
Caron had initially told friends at a baby shower that the father was 'out of the picture'. She was arrested in January 2025.
Plea Deal and Sentencing
Terms of her plea arrangement include up to five years in state prison, losing her teaching license, registering as a sex offender, and being under parole supervision for life. Originally, last August, ahead of the plea deal, Caron faced a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 40 years behind bars if convicted of child sexual assault.
She is now required to undergo assessment at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, which the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office said will determine whether her actions are classified as repetitive and/or compulsive, which could impact her sentence. Caron will be sentenced on January 8.
Meanwhile, the student, now in his early 20s, previously insisted he loves Caron and 'wasn't groomed' by her. 'They need to drop all charges. I wasn't groomed or raped or manipulated by her. She never initiated anything,' he told the Daily Mail last February. Calling the allegations 'crazy', he said he 'started everything', and if it were his decision, 'she wouldn't be in jail'. He added that he wasn't allowed contact with his child while the case moved through the court as part of Caron's bail conditions.
