A female teacher at a juvenile correctional facility in Newport Beach was charged Tuesday with fondling and kissing a 15-year-old boy housed at the center, authorities said.
Dawn Marie Baloun, 43, of Lake Forest, faces one misdemeanor count of child annoyance after she allegedly met the youth in closets and classrooms at the Harbor Justice Center, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
Between March and April of last year, Baloun is charged with kissing the victim, fondling him over his clothing and having him touch her breasts, the district attorney said.
After the youth was transferred to another facility, Baloun allegedly exchanged about 65 graphic, sexual letters with him. A counselor at the facility where the boy had been transferred alerted authorities after discovering the letters, according to the district attorney.
Baloun is scheduled to be arraigned April 12 at the courthouse in Newport Beach. She faces a maximum of a year in jail.
— Robert J. Lopez