A former St. Paul charter school substitute teacher has admitted to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student in her classroom and will avoid prison as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Caitlin Kalia Thao (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Caitlin Kalia Thao, 24, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty Wednesday to an added charge of felony fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with assaulting a teenage boy this year at St. Paul City School.

As part of the plea deal, a prison sentence will be stayed and she will face up to six months in jail at her sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 10.

Thao resigned from her job on Feb. 27, four days after St. Paul police received a report of alleged sexual misconduct with the boy and a day after school administration confronted her with the accusations.

Thao was originally charged by warrant May 2 with third-degree criminal sexual conduct. She was arrested May 14 and booked into the Ramsey County jail. She posted a $40,000 bond three days later and was released under several court-ordered conditions, including that she has no conduct with children other than her own.

The school said Thao was hired as a paraprofessional on Feb. 21, 2023, and became a substitute teacher after getting her license in December.

According to the criminal complaint, police on Feb. 23, 2024, received a report of alleged sexual misconduct regarding Thao and a student. The school’s then-interim executive director told police of complaints from staff and others about Thao having “inappropriate behavior with students, the complaint states. Thao was asked to meet with a school principal on Feb. 26, then resigned.

Police spoke with the boy on March 13. He said that Thao was “overly nice” and that they would talk through messenger apps. Thao called him handsome and would flirt with him, the boy said, according to the complaint. He said he flirted back “because she would buy stuff for him and his friends.”

The boy told police the sexual encounter occurred in a middle school classroom about a month and a half prior after she had invited him to her classroom through a text before a sports game.

Thao then sent him an Instagram message about it and invited him to her place when her husband wasn’t home. The boy declined the offer.

The complaint says that on March 9 a Regions Hospital social worker completed a child maltreatment form after Thao herself reported that she had a “sexual relationship” with a 17‐year‐old student she met in a class she had taught.

Thao did not respond to requests from police for an interview, the complaint says.

St. Paul City School, located along University Avenue near the Capitol, has been around since 1998. It has 600 students from preschool through grade 12 and employs 64 licensed staff members and 84 non-licensed staff members, according to a March brochure.

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