| For Immediate Release Case # TBA
March 23, 2010 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FEMALE JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY TEACHER CHARGED WITH KISSING AND
FONDLING 16-YEAR-OLD BOY IN FACILITY CLASSROOM AND CLOSETS
NEWPORT BEACH – A female teacher at a juvenile correctional facility was charged today with having an unlawful relationship with a 16-year-old housed at the facility by kissing and fondling him after meeting in classrooms and closets. Dawn Marie Baloun, 43, Lake Forest, is charged with one misdemeanor count of child annoyance and faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail if convicted. She is scheduled to be arraigned April 12, 2010, at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. The time and Department are to be determined.
Between March and April 2009, while working as a teacher at the juvenile correctional facility Joplin Youth Center in Trabuco Canyon, Baloun is accused of having an unlawful intimate relationship with 16-year-old John Doe, a juvenile housed at the facility. The defendant is accused of meeting the victim alone in classrooms, the facility office, and in a towel closet. She is accused of kissing the victim, fondling him over his clothing, and having the victim touch her breasts over her clothing.
In April 2009, John Doe was transferred to another facility in another state. Between April and December 2009, Baloun is accused of exchanging approximately 65 graphic, sexual letters with John Doe discussing their sexual conduct. In December 2009, a counselor at the facility where John Doe was housed discovered the letters and contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Woods is prosecuting this case.
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