Aaron Hjermstad, who has already been imprisoned for 12 years for sexually assaulting four boys, was sentenced to life in prison on 12 new charges of criminal sexual conduct on Tuesday.
The 46-year-old formerly coached and taught at two Minneapolis charter schools: the Mastery School and Harvest Best Academy.
He was found guilty of sexually assaulting four adolescents he had previously mentored and was sentenced to 12 years in jail in 2022. Before being sentenced in those cases, Hjermstad was pulled over and captured in Idaho, where investigators discovered thousands of videos of Hjermstad molesting minors.
He was charged with 12 new counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct, to which he pled guilty in September.
All 12 victims were under the age of 13, and the crimes occurred between 2013 and 2021. Authorities claim that he coached many of the children or one of their families.
Hjermstad’s life in prison sentence includes the chance of parole after 30 years. If it were granted, Hjermstad would be on lifelong conditional release and a registered predatory offender.
“My thoughts today are solely with the many victims in this case. What they endured as children is nothing short of horrifying,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “Mr. Hjermstad is being held accountable, and a sentence of this length removes the possibility of further harm at his hands for decades to come.”
Hjermstad has a credit for 1,457 days already served.
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