ST. PAUL — Former Tartan High School special-education teacher Ann Margaret Bacon was sentenced to 180 days on Monday, October 26, after admitting to a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student while he was still enrolled at the school, according to the Pioneer Press. Bacon, 27, of Hastings, pleaded guilty in September to third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a prohibited occupational relationship. Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan Jr. imposed the sentence along with two years of supervised probation. Bacon received credit for two days already served and is permitted to serve the sentence on electronic home monitoring. Sentence follows plea agreement Prosecutors and the defense jointly requested a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines, a sentence of no more than 364 days, and a gross misdemeanor conviction. Gilligan followed that agreement and ordered 180 days. In granting the departure, the judge cited Bacon’s amenability to probation and the sentence recommended in the plea agreement. Investigation centered on when the relationship began According to the criminal complaint described in news reports, school administrators and a school resource officer received a report in February 2024 that Bacon had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student. Bacon initially told investigators that the relationship began in July 2023, after his graduation. She later acknowledged that it began while he was one of her students after investigators confronted her with photographs taken at a Vadnais Heights hotel in May 2023, the complaint said. Investigators obtained hotel records showing one-night room rentals on May 8, June 4, June 11 and July 4, 2023. Witnesses also described messages and photographs on the student’s phone. The complaint included separate witness allegations that Bacon supplied alcohol to the student and other underage people. Bacon denied purchasing alcohol for minors. Those allegations are separate from the sexual-conduct offense addressed by her plea. Employment at Tartan The school district said Bacon worked as a paraprofessional during the 2021–2022 school year before being hired as a special-education teacher in August 2022. Tartan High School is in Oakdale. She resigned on February 8, 2024, the same day police interviewed her. Photo: Ann Margaret Bacon’s booking photograph, credited to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in KSTP’s February 2024 reporting.