The former elementary school teacher from Cape May County was charged in a child sexual abuse case. The victim was 11 when the abuse started and 13 when she gave birth to his child, according to the prosecution.
Laura Caron, 36, from Cape May Court House, pleaded guilty Wednesday to endangering the welfare of a child by sexual conduct, a second-degree crime, according to Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland, as reported by New Jersey 101.5.
Under the plea agreement, Caron faces five years in state prison, will lose her teaching license, and will never be allowed to work in public jobs again. She has to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be on lifetime parole after release, as reported by WPVI in Philadelphia.
Before sentencing, Caron will be evaluated at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel to determine whether her behavior was repetitive or obsessive. This evaluation can affect Caron’s sentence and place of confinement, according to Patch.
If this evaluation is completed, Caron’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2027, before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman.
Caron taught fifth grade in the Middle Township School District for more than ten years, mostly at Middle Township Elementary School No. 2.
Investigators said Caron got closer to the children’s mother and offered to babysit the siblings, who slept at her home one or two nights a week. The children later moved in with Caron and lived with her from 2016 to 2020, the period when the abuse occurred, according to the arrest affidavit provided to Patch.
According to court documents cited by NBC10 Philadelphia, the boy’s siblings claimed they sometimes woke up to find their brother sleeping in Caron’s bed.
Caron gave birth to a daughter on April 5, 2019, when she was 28 and the boy was 13, investigators said.
The case became known more than five years later. In December 2024, the boy’s father posted a photo of the child on Facebook and wondered how much she looked like him and his son, according to the criminal complaint.
Middle Township Superintendent David Salvo received an anonymous tip including a screenshot of the post on Dec. 12, 2024, BreakingAC reported. Then he informed the police, as People reported.
According to court papers, the victim’s sister provided investigators with a text message in which her brother admitted to being the child’s father. In the message, he asked her not to tell anyone because he did not want Caron to be in trouble.
The victim is now 20. He told investigators that the abuse continued until 2020, when he was 14 or 15. He also said he kept in contact with Caron until his father’s Facebook post, WPVI reported.
Caron was arrested on January 15, 2025, and placed on paid administrative leave in the school district, the New York Post reported. Later, a grand jury charged her with aggravated sexual assault (a first-degree crime), sexual assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.
If she had been found guilty on all three charges at the trial, Caron would have faced up to 40 years in prison, People reported. At the announcement of the indictment, Sutherland described the allegations as “deeply disturbing” given Caron’s position, The Independent reported.
After the arrest, the victim, 19 at the time, defended Caron, claiming that he was not groomed or manipulated and that the charges against her should be dropped, New Jersey 101.5 reported. His sister claimed that Caron manipulated the family, according to Patch.
