Former Middletown Teacher Posts $100K Bond In Student Sex Assault Case

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A former math teacher at Middletown High School accused of having a sexual relationship with a student posted a $100,000 cash bond in court Tuesday, judicial system records show.

James Hanson, 35, is facing a number of criminal charges in connection with what school system and police officials termed "an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor student."

Hanson is due back in Middletown Superior Court on April 23, judicial system records show. In all, he has been charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, and both sets of charges are cited in court records as a teacher-student relationship.

He has also been charged with the use of a computer to entice a minor and illegal sexual contact. The charges listed on the judicial system database are slightly "substituted" from those announced Tuesday after Hanson was served a warrant at police headquarters. The illegal contact charge replaced a risk of injury to a child charge.

All but the fourth-degree sex assault charges are classified as felonies.

Police said Hanson's arrest is the result of a lengthy investigation conducted by the Middletown Police Department's Special Investigations Unit and the Homeland Security Investigations Task Force.

He taught at Middletown High from August 2022 through Nov. 16, 2023 but was immediately placed on administrative leave when the investigation began, police and school system officials said.

Hanson submitted his resignation soon after, school system officials said.