A former Tartan High School band director has admitted in court to sexually assaulting a DeLaSalle High School student in 2022.

Daniel James Felton, 32, pleaded guilty last week in Hennepin County District Court to the sole count of felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with assaulting the then-17-year-old girl while she was his music student at the Catholic high school in Minneapolis.

Felton, who was charged last August, entered the plea on Friday after reaching an agreement with the prosecution that calls for up to 120 days in the workhouse, five years of probation and a stay of imposition of his sentence, which means the felony conviction will be considered a misdemeanor if he successfully complies with the terms of his probation. Sentencing is scheduled for July 16.

Felton was the music director at DeLaSalle for nearly two years before leaving the school in August 2022 for Tartan in Oakdale, according to his now-deleted LinkedIn profile. The online page also said he was a professional gospel musician and a band director at The Holy Christian Church International in St. Paul.

Felton resigned from Tartan shortly after the victim filed a personal injury lawsuit against him and DeLaSalle in Hennepin County District Court. The civil suit remains pending in court, with a judge halting further proceedings in September until the criminal case concludes.

Felton lived in Brooklyn Park when the cases were filed but has since moved to Celina, Texas, court records show.

Assaulted in his car

The criminal complaint says the victim went to Minneapolis police in January 2024 and reported Felton assaulted her several times beginning in April 2022, which was her senior year at DeLaSalle. She said he was her band and choir teacher during her junior and senior years.

Felton added her on Instagram in April 2022 and began sending direct messages, which became sexual, she reported.

She said the first assault happened that month after Felton offered her a ride home after a concert. Instead of driving straight home, she told police, he took her to an empty parking lot and touched her in a “sexual manner,” placing his hand on her inner thigh, the complaint says. She reported the interaction made her feel uncomfortable and she asked him to take her home.

Additional sexual assaults took place between April 2022 and August 2022, mostly in his car, she told police. She reported he would “emotionally coerce” her into sex acts.

Police were given Instagram messages that Felton and the girl purportedly exchanged between April 2022 and September 2022. The messages include Felton telling her multiple times he loves her and describing in detail what he wanted to do to her, the complaint says.

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The civil suit was filed Feb. 9 by the Minneapolis law firm Storms Dworak on behalf of the victim, who is listed as “Jane Doe.” It includes screenshots of sexually-explicit Instagram messages purportedly sent to the girl by Felton and alleges several assaults, including one in his DeLaSalle office.

Felton also worked as a music teacher at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis from January 2016 to early November 2018, according to the Minneapolis School District.

Felton taught in the Osseo school district in 2018 and 2019, then for the Spring Lake Park school district until leaving for DeLaSalle, according to his deleted LinkedIn profile. He had earned a Bachelor’s degree in music from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., and then a master’s degree in music education from the University of Minnesota.

Felton’s teaching license is no longer valid, according to the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board’s website.

Christian Vazquez and Brooks Lee hit home runs in a four-run fourth inning, and Jhoan Duran picked up his eighth save as the Twins picked up their ninth straight victory, 6-3, in the first game of a double-header Wednesday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Brock Stewart (1-0) earned the victory with an inning of scoreless relief. Starter Baily Ober gave up three runs in the third inning — two on a homer by Gunnar Henderson — and lasted only 4⅔ innings.

Lee hit a solo home run to start the fourth inning against Baltimore starer Dean Kremer (3-5) and, after a single by Carlos Correa and walk by Willi Castro, Vazquez hit a three-run home run to give the the Twins a 4-3 lead.

Trevor Larnach double in a run and scored on a wild pitch by Keegan Akin in the ninth inning before Duran pitched a scoreless ninth.

Orioles outfielder Ramón Laureano was ejected after reacting angrily to a called third strike from Stewart to end the sixth inning. He slammed his helmet on the ground and was quickly tossed by plate umpire James Hoye. Laureano is batting .192 this season after going 0 for 3 in the game. He also struck out to end the fourth.

The second game of the double-header was scheduled to start 30 minutes after the first game ended with Simeon Woods Richardson pitching for the Twins.

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By TODD RICHMOND

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration agents who were trying to detain him at her courthouse filed a motion to dismiss the case Wednesday, arguing that there’s no legal basis for it.

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Attorneys for Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan argue in their motion that her conduct on the day in question amounted to directing people’s movement in and around her courtroom, and that she enjoys legal immunity for official acts she performs as a judge. They cite last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in President Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case that found that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts.

“The problems with the prosecution are legion, but most immediately, the government cannot prosecute Judge Dugan because she is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts,” the motion says. “Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset.”

The judge overseeing her case is Lynn Adelman, a former Democratic state senator. Former President Bill Clinton appointed him to the bench in 1997.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Milwaukee didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Federal prosecutors charged Dugan in April with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent arrest. A grand jury indicted her on the same charges on Tuesday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts.

Her attorneys insist Dugan is innocent. She’s expected to enter a not guilty plea at her arraignment Thursday.

Dugan’s arrest has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats contend that Dugan’s arrest went too far and that the administration is trying to make an example out of her to discourage judicial opposition to the crackdown.

Dugan’s case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed.

According to prosecutors, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. He was charged in March with misdemeanor domestic violence in Milwaukee County and was in Dugan’s courtroom for a hearing in that case on April 18.

Dugan’s clerk alerted her that immigration agents were in the courthouse looking to arrest Flores-Ruiz, prosecutors allege in court documents. According to an affidavit, Dugan became visibly angry at the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd.” After discussing the warrant for Flores-Ruiz’s arrest with the agents, Dugan demanded that they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom.

She then returned to the courtroom, was heard saying something to the effect of “wait, come with me,” and then showed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a back door, the affidavit says. The immigration agents eventually detained Flores-Ruiz outside the building following a foot chase.

Dugan’s dismissal motion also accuses the federal government of violating Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.

“The government’s prosecution here reaches directly into a state courthouse, disrupting active proceedings, and interferes with the official duties of an elected judge,” the motion states.

The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench last month, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.

By BRIAN WITTE

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lost its triple-A bond rating from Moody’s on Wednesday, a rating the state has cited for more than 50 years as a sign of strong fiscal stewardship.

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Moody’s downgraded the state’s credit rating to Aa1. Maryland had received a triple-A bond rating from Moody’s since 1973. The state has benefitted from the higher rating by paying the lowest rates when it sells bonds to pay for infrastructure, likes roads and schools.

“The downgrade was driven by economic and financial underperformance compared to Aaa-rated states, which is expected to continue given the state’s heightened vulnerability to shifting federal policies and employment, and its elevated fixed costs,” Moody’s said.

Gov. Wes Moore and other leading Maryland Democrats blamed President Donald Trump’s mass layoffs of federal workers, which is having a big impact on the region. The District of Columbia also recently received a credit-rating downgrade.

“To put it bluntly, this is a Trump downgrade,” Moore said in statement made jointly by the presiding officers of the state’s legislature, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis, who are all Democrats. “Over the last one hundred days, the federal administration’s decisions have wreaked havoc on the entire region, including Maryland.”

Maryland Republicans described the downgrade as “a harsh indictment of the state’s current direction under Governor Wes Moore.”

“Donald Trump didn’t downgrade Maryland’s bond rating — Annapolis Democrats did. And now they’re scrambling for someone else to blame,” Republican Sen. Steve Hershey, the Senate minority leader, said in a statement. “This is the result of reckless spending, bloated budgets, and an economy that’s been hollowed out by overregulation and overreliance on the federal government.”

Moody’s had noted earlier this year that federal cuts pose a greater threat to Maryland than any other state.

Maryland lawmakers recently concluded a challenging legislative session to balance the state’s budget. They closed a $3.3 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year with a combination of tax increases, budget cuts and fund transfers.

Maryland lawmakers also directed the governor’s budget office to keep track of the impact of federal cuts, alert them if it reaches $1 billion and make recommendations on how to deal with the impact.

The Democrats’ statement noted that Moody’s acknowledged that the state had closed its budget gap, even as it remains exposed to the economic consequences of federal funding cuts and layoffs.

“Maryland still holds one of the highest possible credit ratings in the nation,” the joint statement said, “and as we have for decades, we will always pay our debts.”