A former Harbor City International School and St. Scholastica employee moved quickly to resolve his sexual misconduct case, pleading guilty at a scheduled omnibus hearing Wednesday.
Christopher Donald Bacigalupo, 50, who was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student, entered a plea petition during an appearance in State District Court in Duluth. The plea came less than three weeks after his arraignment, at a time when many defendants still are going through case discovery and beginning plea agreement discussions.
Bacigalupo entered the plea to a single felony charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Judge Sally Tarnowski ordered a presentence investigation and psychosexual evaluation prior to sentencing, which was set for Dec. 22. Bacigalupo remains free on his own recognizance.
State sentencing guidelines for the charge call for probation for an offender with no criminal history.
Bacigalupo is charged with having a relationship with the 17-year-old student beginning in late 2009, when she was a senior at Harbor City and he was an adviser. The relationship allegedly continued at St. Scholastica, where he worked and the alleged victim attended classes. Their contact included sexual touching while the girl was still 17, but did not progress to sexual intercourse until after she turned 18, according to the criminal complaint.
Bacigalupo, who worked in St. Scholastica’s information technology department, has not been with the college since July 17. He has not worked at Harbor City for four years.
The criminal investigation was opened when the alleged victim came forward to police in June to report the relationship, which she felt was inappropriate.
The age of consent in Minnesota is typically 16, but state statutes allow for a person in a “position of authority” and more than four years older than a 16- or 17-year-old victim to be tried on criminal sexual conduct charges.
