BROOKINGS A former teacher and coach at Watertown High School received nearly the maximum sentence allowed by law after pleading guilty to rape in the fourth degree on Tuesday in Brookings County Circuit Court.
Jordan Bakken, 33, was sentenced to 15 years in the state penitentiary Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge Gregory Stoltenburg, the maximum incarceration allowed for the class 3 felony to which he pleaded guilty. Stoltenburg did suspend the execution of five years of that sentence.
Bakken was indicted and arrested and had been held in the Brookings County Detention Center since January after it was revealed he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student he coached in Watertown.
He was prosecuted in Brookings County because one of the encounters happened at a Brookings hotel on a soccer trip, according to court documents.
Bakken, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by the state Department of Criminal Investigation, began a relationship with a girl, younger than 16, who was his student, soccer player and debate protg, in December.
The girls parents discovered the relationship and reported it to authorities. During the course of the investigation, the girl told investigators she and Bakken stayed together in a hotel room in Brookings during the weekend of Jan. 12-13.
The details of that weekend meet the statutory designations for the charges, which were filed by Brookings County States Attorney Dan Nelson. Bakken resigned his positions at Watertown High School shortly thereafter.
Bakken eventually pleaded guilty to the top-level charge.
Nelson said the sentence was justified by both the seriousness of the offense and the minimizing attitude and behavior of the defendant.
The prison sentence sends a strong message that those individuals in positions of authority and influence who prey on vulnerable victims will be punished. The judge outlined how this defendant engaged in classic grooming behavior and how he had not accepted full responsibility for his behavior, Nelson told The Register.
Law enforcement conducted a thorough investigation which assisted our office in holding this offender accountable. Our communities are now safer with this individual now behind bars for a significant period of time.
Bakken was held at the BCDC on a $40,000 cash bond from his arrest until he was remanded by Judge Stoltenburg to the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. He was credited with 291 days time served.
The five years of Bakkens sentence that were suspended come with the following conditions: That he pay his fines and costs, including $2,250 for the cost of his psychosexual assessment, that he comply with all sex offender registry requirements, that he have no contact with the victim or victims family and that he have no unsupervised contact at all with any children other than his own.
Linehan is the Registers managing editor and welcomes tips and comments at [email protected].
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