Charges: Minnesota teacher sent nude photos to boys at high school; resource officer covered for her

A Northfield teacher sent nude photos of herself to numerous high school boys, but the school’s resource officer chose to cover up for her and began a romantic relationship with her, according to charges against both of them.

Katie A. Hanson, 37, of Lonsdale, Minn., was charged Thursday in Rice County District Court with two felony counts of sending electronic messages with sexual content to a child in connection with the photos shared over several months’ time early in 2024.

Gabriel D. Crombie, 33, of Faribault, Minn., was charged with one felony count of aiding an offender to avoid arrest and a gross misdemeanor count of failing to perform his duties as a police officer.

Hanson and Crombie were both charged by summons and are due in court on July 23. Court records do not list attorneys for either of them. The Minnesota Star Tribune has left messages with both seeking responses to the charges.

Hanson was a special education teacher at the middle school when she resigned from the school district in December 2024, about the time district officials were alerted to the allegations.

Crombie is no longer with the Northfield Police Department, and state records list his peace officer license as inactive.

School district Superintendent Matt Hillmann said in a message to students’ families and staff that “the behavior described in the criminal charges is appalling and completely unacceptable. ... I recognize that circumstances like these can cause anger and diminish trust. I share your anger.”

Police Chief Jeff Schroepfer released a statement that read, “We expect every officer to act with integrity and to protect our students without exception. ... This is a deeply troubling incident that affects not only the victims and their families but also the entire community.”

According to the criminal complaints:

Police were notified in December by a student that Hanson was sending nude photos of herself to Northfield High School boys. The student said she had the incriminating photos on her phone from one of the boys.

Crombie, as the school’s resource officer, knew of the photos when they were initially reported to him months earlier but made no record of the allegations.

One boy told police that Hanson sent him over Snapchat about 10 photos of her nude.

Another boy said Hanson added him to Snapchat in March 2024, but he didn’t know who she was. After about a week and a half to two weeks of normal conversation, she sent him nude photos for about a week, including some he recognized as being taken inside the school.

At times she would address him with “Hey, handsome” and “Hey sexy.” He declined her requests for nude photos of him, and he turned down her offers of edibles.

The boy decided to block Hanson “because he realized it was kind of weird for this to be happening,” the charges read. He then told Crombie about the images.

Other boys offered similar accounts to police.

In an interview with a state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agent and a police officer, Hanson said boys were asking her for photos over Snapchat and “started flirty conversations,” the complaint continued.

She acknowledged sending the photos along with sexual conversation. She said she doesn’t recall how many images she sent and denied saving them.

Hanson named six photo recipients, with five of them ages 15 to 17 and another possibly in his 20s. She said one boy was in eighth grade.

She explained that she and her husband were going through a hard time, and “she did this because she got attention when she was feeling vulnerable and gave in,” the charges noted.

A law enforcement search of phones belonging to Hanson “did locate many photos and videos related to Crombie and Hanson,” the complaints read.

A search of Hanson’s Snapchat account turned up 12 images that involved males who appear to be under 18 years old. She said there are more, but she didn’t offer their names to police.

Hanson said she stopped sending the photos once she started her relationship with Crombie and “told [him] ‘everything’” in April 2024, the charges quoted her as saying.

“Crombie was very understanding of everything she was going through,” the charges read. “Crombie told her that he was going to ‘do her a favor [and] let the case go.’”

In December 2024, after Crombie left the Police Department, law enforcement showed him a photo of Hanson. He replied that she was a teacher at the middle school and described her as a friend.

Crombie said he heard from students about receiving explicit photos of Hanson from the teacher, but he did not believe them and was offered no proof.

He said the superintendent called him regarding rumors about Hanson. Crombie said he replied there wasn’t enough information to investigate. He also spoke with Hanson and one of the boys but took what they said no further.