Sentenced in Pennsylvania to 15 to 30 years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Still to be sentenced in New Jersey.
Jan 24, 2008 - Keri Brekne, 28, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Lopatcong Township Middle School, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl at the teacher's home.
Brekne was arraigned on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors. Police said Brekne drove the victim from her home in New Jersey to Brekne's residence in Pennsylvania, where the assaults happened between last July and this month.
A preliminary is scheduled for Feb 1.
Full Name: Keri Ann Brekne or Keriann Brekne
Jan 25 - Warren County prosecutors filed separate charges of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child by engaging in sexual conduct, aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual contact for incidents that allegedly occurred in Lopatcong Township between June 1 and Sept. 30, 2007.
Police said Brekne provided the girl with a cell phone so they could stay in contact. The girl's parents found the phone, which police said contained sexually explicit text messages. The girl told police where to find a sexual device in the bedroom of Brekne's Bethlehem home.Brekne was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Gay L. Elwell of Easton and committed to Northampton County Prison under $75,000 bail. On the New Jersey charges, Superior Court Judge John H. Pursel set bail at $150,000.
Location is always the school location.
SUSPENDED Feb 20 - Brekne has been suspended with pay. Her salary is $46,012.
PLEA AGREEMENT Feb 29 - Brekne agreed at a hearing Friday before District Judge James Narlesky to plead guilty to five counts of aggravated indecent assault. She may plead guilty next month to sexual assault-related charges in New Jersey in connection with the same victim.
PLEA AGREEMENT REJECTED - March 28 - Brekne rejected a plea bargain Thursday calling for a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The charges in Warren County are now set to go before a grand jury.
The victim's father has called for the maximum sentence allowed, in both states.GUILTY PLEA July 31 - In Northampton County, Brekne pleaded guilty to five counts of felony aggravated indecent sexual assault and faces an unlikely maximum of 50 years in prison. She admitted molesting the girl in her Bethlehem home.
"It infuriates us that Brekne's attorney comments that his client wants to get on with her life and put this behind her when in fact our child, our family and our community are forever impacted by her selfish, hideous and abusive acts we want to be sure she never has the opportunity to harm another child again," the 14-year-old's father told WFMZ-TV on Thursday. His name was withheld to protect the victim's identity.
Her sentencing in Northampton County is scheduled for Oct. 3, and she will be sentenced on the Warren County conviction sometime later. (Earlier this month, she pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania to five counts of aggravated indecent assault that each carry penalties of between 22 months and 10 years in prison.) She will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
Brekne has been in prison since a July 9 plea hearing when Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden revoked her bail.
August 12 - Ann Brekne will officially lose her teaching position this evening during a meeting of the Lopatcong Township Board of Education.
SENTENCED October 11 - Brekne was sentenced in Pennsylvania to 15 to 30 years in prison.
''In 20 years on the bench, I have not seen a case as heinous as this one,'' Judge Kimberly McFadden said in a courtroom packed with about 85 supporters of the girl and her family and about 15 for Brekne.Brekne will have to register as a sexual offender for the rest of her life, and she has surrendered her teaching certificate.
In New Jersey, she has also pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the girl, and faces up to five to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced in three to six months, said Kevin Brotzman, a Warren County assistant prosecutor.
