Teacher Who Sent 35,000 Texts to 11-Year-Old Student Sobs as She’s Jailed for 6 Years

A former Wisconsin elementary school teacher sobbed in court as a judge sentenced her to six years in prison for her explicit conduct with an 11-year-old student. Madison Bergmann, 26, admitted to sending roughly 35,000 explicit messages over three months and engaging in inappropriate physical contact with the boy.

Prosecutors had initially pushed for a 12-year sentence, but a plea deal reduced her term. Still, the fallout from her actions has been absolute, costing Bergmann both her teaching career and her engagement.

How 35,000 Messages Unraveled Everything

The case came to light when the student’s father discovered the trove of approximately 35,000 explicit texts exchanged between his son and Bergmann. Testifying in court, the father called some of the messages he found “disturbing.”

Many of the messages reportedly detailed intimate encounters. The investigation deepened when police found a classroom folder with handwritten notes under the student’s name that referenced alleged kisses, leading to Bergmann's arrest.

Bergmann pleaded guilty to one count of child enticement and two counts of sexual misconduct by school staff. As part of her plea agreement, several more serious charges, including first-degree sexual assault of a child and using a computer to facilitate the crimes, were dropped.

A Plea for Leniency vs. A Father’s Pain

During her sentencing, Bergmann acknowledged her wrongdoing but requested a lighter one-year term. “I want to make it absolutely clear that I take full accountability for every boundary that was crossed,” she told the judge, later addressing her victim’s family. “I hope that your family has been able to begin to heal.”

Footage from the courtroom shows Bergmann breaking down, holding her face in her hands as the judge announced the six-year prison sentence. Following her incarceration, she will serve an additional six years of extended supervision with strict conditions.

These terms include a limit on her contact with minors, mandatory registration as an offender, and restricted internet and social media access. The victim's father, however, felt the punishment was not enough.

“To his own credit, [my son] is like ‘I have to live with this forever. Whatever punishment she receives should be forever,’” the father stated, adding, “When I review the texts too, it’s very deliberate... To me it’s very disturbing stuff.”