A former teacher of a charter school in St. Paul was sentenced to one month of house arrest and three years of probation Wednesday for having criminal sexual contact with his 16-year-old student in 2023 after he was fired for continuing to contact the girl.
Brandon Michael Bunney, who had taught at Hmong College Prep Academy, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court in March to felony fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after reaching an agreement that included a stayed prison sentence to probation and no more than two months in the workhouse.
Brandon Michael Bunney (Courtesy of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office)
Bunney, 43, of Savage, was initially charged in February 2024 with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for incidents between July 25, 2023, and mid-September that year while being in a position of authority over her.
Bunney’s attorney, Marsh Halberg, said Wednesday the charge stemmed from a consensual relationship with the 16-year-old within 120 days of his May 18 firing from the school.
In general, the legal age of consent in Minnesota is 16, however, the statute for third-degree criminal sexual conduct includes a “120-day rule” that prohibits anyone who was in a position of authority over someone from having sexual contact with them during the time frame.
“Had they waited a few more weeks to enter into their relationship, no offense would have been committed,” Halberg wrote in a sentencing memo.
Rumors of an inappropriate relationship between Bunney and the girl began to surface at Hmong College Prep in spring 2023, the criminal complaint said. School administration told him several times to stop contacting the girl, and he was fired from his teaching job for failing to do so.
After his firing, Bunney began spending more time with the girl. Numerous messages between them began six days after he was fired. By July 2023, Bunney was sending the girl messages describing sexual acts he wanted to engage in with her, the complaint said.
She told police it started with sexual touching in his car on St. Paul’s East Side and progressed to sexual penetration at an Apple Valley house where he lived at the time, the complaint said.
In an interview with police, Bunney said he was fired from the high school because of a “perception that I hung out with a student,” the complaint said. He said that “a bunch of people had concerns” and he was told to “kinda ghost” the girl, but he didn’t.
Three months after his firing from Hmong College Prep, Bunney joined Nicollet Middle School in Burnsville. He taught math at the school until Feb. 23, 2024, when he was arrested and officials at Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191 say they learned of the allegations from police.
Bunney’s wife of 14 years filed for divorce in April 2024, according to court records.
‘These are two consenting people’
Halberg told the court Wednesday that it was around September 2024 when Bunney understood the law, that he “kind of did a 180 in the sense of acknowledgement. And, before that, it was like, why is it anybody’s business? These are two consenting people, age of consent.”
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Halberg said Bunney has been cooperative and remorseful, and that a psychosexual exam concluded he has less than a 3% chance of reoffending.
Halberg asked Judge Richard Kyle to give Bunney no jail time or, in the alternative, that he serve any time sentenced on electronic home monitoring with work release privileges.
Kyle imposed the latter, adding, “but I’m going to reduce the amount that’s been requested. I think a little bit is appropriate, given what happened here.”
Bunney’s sentence is a stay of imposition, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if he successfully completes probation. His conditions of probation include registering as a predatory offender; no contact with the victim; and no position of authority — paid or volunteer — over minors.
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