A former middle school lunchroom worker has pleaded guilty after the Minnesota Supreme Court shot down her defense for sending nude photos and sexually explicit texts to a 15-year-old boy.
Krista Ann Muccio, 44, had claimed that her sexting with the boy was free speech protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A state appeals court ruled in her favor, but last March the state’s supreme court reversed that decision.
In November 2014, Muccio shared explicit photos of herself with the 15-year-old boy through Instagram’s direct message feature and asked for “something in return,” prompting the student to share explicit photos with her, according to the criminal complaint.
The teenager knew Muccio as the lunch lady at his middle school in Inver Grove Heights, a suburb southeast of Minneapolis. They had been communicating on Instagram since the summer.
Inver Grove Heights police started investigating Muccio after the boy’s father found the photos saved to an iPad, and she was charged in March 2015.
With her constitutional challenge rejected, Muccio pleaded guilty Thursday in Dakota County District Court to one felony count of communication with a minor describing sexual conduct.
She also was charged with one count of possession of pornographic work involving minors, a charge that will be addressed at the April 6 sentencing, said Monica Jensen, spokeswoman for the county attorney’s office.
“This statute was enacted for the important purpose of prohibiting sexually explicit speech directed at a child that is intended to cause sexual arousal,” Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said in a Thursday statement. “We are pleased to bring Krista Muccio to justice for violating this law.”
Judge Kathryn Messerich on Thursday ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for April 6.
