GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- A jury convicted a woman accused of having sexual contact with the 17-year-old female student she was mentoring.
A Dakota County jury found Melissa Koehn, 31, guilty Friday of three counts of criminal sexual conduct after deliberating for 3 1/2 hours.
Koehn was a teacher and basketball coach at St. Croix Lutheran High School. She started a mentoring relationship with the student.
According to the criminal complaint, a police officer found Koehn and the student inside a parked car near a soccer field in Apple Valley on December 21, 2008. Authorities say the pair were engaged in intimate activity. Prosecutors say Koehn admitted the two had a sexual relationship dating back to August 2008.
According to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, while in general, the age of consent in Minnesota is 16, it is illegal for any teacher or coach to have sexual contact with a 16 or 17 year old student over whom they have a position of authority.
Koehn will be sentenced on February 5, 2010.
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