from www.startribune.com – The granddaughter of wrestling legend Verne Gagne is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal-sexual conduct with a student at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul.
Gail E. Gagne worked as the weight-room supervisor at the school in the summer of 2008. The complaint alleges that Gagne, then 25, engaged in sexual conduct on several occasions with a 17-year-old student who is not identified in the complaint.
Her lawyer, Earl Gray, said Thursday she will plead not guilty and go to trial.
The alleged victim said Gagne took him to her Bloomington home and engaged in oral sex with him. Later, she took him to a hotel near the Mall of America where the two spent the night and had sex, the complaint said.
Hotel records and Gagne’s credit card receipts show that on Sept. 13-14, she spent the night at LaQuinta Hotel on Nicollet Avenue south in Bloomington, the complaint said.
The Cretin-Derham Hall principal told police that Gagne was hired at the school in November 2007 as an assistant basketball coach. From January through September 2008, she was a substitute teacher. In the summer of 2008, she worked in the weight room and in late September 2008, she was hired as a full-time teacher, the complaint said.
As the weight-room supervisor, she worked with students to ensure they properly used the equipment and supervised the students who had work-study jobs there. The alleged victim had a work-study job in the weight room.
On May 4, 2009, police were called to the school to investigate an allegation of sexual conduct between a student and a teacher. The complaint did not explain the lag time from the alleged activity, the report to police and the filing of charges.
Gagne is not in custody. St. Paul police say they believe she is living in the Chicago area. Hennepin County Judge Ron Abrams issued a warrant for her arrest Tuesday.
Gagne, now 27, is the granddaughter of former professional wrestler Verne Gagne and the daughter of former professional wrestler Greg Gagne.