Lake Forest Female Teacher Charged with unlawful behavior in Juvy Facility

Posted by CotoBlogzz 03-26-2010 03:00 PM


NEWPORT BEACH, CA  - Dawn Marie Baloun, a female teacher at a juvenile correctional facility was charged yesterday with having an unlawful relationship with a 16-year-old housed at the facility by kissing and fondling him after meeting in classrooms and closets.  Dawn Marie Baloun, 43, Lake Forest, is charged with one misdemeanor count of child annoyance and faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail if convicted.  She is scheduled to be arraigned April 12, 2010

Between March and April 2009, while working as a teacher at the juvenile correctional facility Joplin Youth Center in Trabuco Canyon, Baloun is accused of having an unlawful intimate relationship with 16-year-old John Doe, a juvenile housed at the facility. The defendant is accused of meeting the victim alone in classrooms, the facility office, and in a towel closet.

In April 2009, John Doe was transferred to another facility in another state. Between April and December 2009, Baloun is accused of exchanging approximately 65 graphic l letters with John Doe discussing their  conduct. In December 2009, a counselor at the facility where John Doe was housed discovered the letters and contacted the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Woods is prosecuting this case.