Describing himself as a teacher who had engaged in "unethical, immoral and ultimately illegal actions" with two girls who were his history students, Matthew Robert Koenen apologized Wednesday for having sex with them.
"I am very profoundly sorry for my crimes," the Stillwater resident and former Grantsburg, Wis., high school teacher said before he was taken to jail for four months.
Koenen, 37, pleaded guilty in September to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He admitted in Washington County District Court that he cultivated "inappropriate and romantic" relationships with the girls, both of whom were 16 at the time.
He lured each to his Stillwater house in August 2012 after "countless conversations" on cellphones and in e-mail accounts he hid from his wife.
Both girls told authorities that Koenen had shown a growing personal interest in them at the high school, despite being a mentor and an authority figure.
At Wednesday's sentencing, one of the girls said she wanted to die in the months after Koenen persuaded her to have sex with him in his house while his wife was gone.
She also said the school district should have detected the problem and stopped it.
"I feel like damaged goods beyond repair," the girl told Judge John McBride. "Sexual assault is not about sex, it's about power."
The mother of the other girl said she was relieved that Koenen's guilty plea means the girls won't have to testify in a trial. But community reaction was severe and she now drives her daughter 40 miles to a different school district.
The mother also said that she found a letter Koenen had written her daughter when she was 16. He said he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
"We feel a lot of guilt as parents," she said, telling the judge that her daughter suffers from depression. "Anybody who is a parent in this courtroom can understand."
Prosecutor Imran Ali called Koenen a sexual predator.
"There were multiple acts of sexual penetration and contact with victims," Ali told the judge. "He planned out each of these instances, making sure his wife wasn't home."
Koenen had spent years "grooming" his victims, Ali said, and in one instance put his toddler son down for a nap before taking one of the girls into his bedroom for sex.
Defense attorney Tina Appleby said that Koenen destroyed his career, has been unemployed since August 2013, and has applied unsuccessfully for nearly 200 jobs.
His "bizarre behavior" resulted from medications and mental health problems, including a bipolar personality. "There was never any malice or evil intent or wickedness on Mr. Koenen's part," Appleby said.
But McBride, in his sentencing, said "there needs to be serious consequences for serious crimes" and sent Koenen to jail until April.
Koenen also was given stayed prison sentences of 36 months and 48 months, supervised probation for 15 years, was fined $500, and was ordered to pay restitution totaling about $900 to the girls.
He must complete sex offender treatment and can't go near children — except for his son — without supervision.
"This isn't a crime of somebody in a manic state who acted compulsively," McBride told Koenen. "The facts of the case show that you did groom these young ladies. The facts are that this was very planned, very premeditated."
Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037
