Former teacher gets jail term

A former Osseo-Fairchild teacher was sentenced to a year in jail, probation, and forbidden from teaching again after he was found guilty of sexual assault.

Nicholas Bergeron, 33, of Strum will also be required to register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender treatment and may not have contact with the student victim, her immediate family or any witnesses at his October 2023 trial.

He is required to report to begin serving his jail term on April 7, according to the sentence set down by Pepin County Judge Thomas Clark last week. The sentence was in line with the recommendation of the Department of Corrections and prosecutors. His probation is set to last five years.

Bergeron was convicted by a jury in Trempealeau County of a Class C felony which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

According to court records, Bergeron received 15 letters of support, many saying he was a conscientious individual. Those letters included five from his family.

The man was found guilty of touching the buttocks of a 15-year-old student who testified against him. During the trial, several other students testified Bergeron seemed to be overly attentive to female students.

 The criminal charges against Bergeron came following the January 2021 incident and occurred about a year after the school district issued the man a letter outlining how he was to behave around female students because of other complaints.