Catholic high school teacher arrested for allegedly smoking weed with students

Brady P. Waibel, 32, a former Catholic school teacher, is accused of smoking weed with several students, including three teenagers.

Waibel, who formerly taught music at Cathedral High School in New Ulm, Minnesota, was charged in Brown County Court on Jan. 19 with fifth-degree cannabis possession and three counts of felonies for contributing to a child’s delinquency.

The school promptly responded to the incident with a statement: Sister Julie Brand, president of the New Ulm Area Catholic Schools, said on January 19 that Waibel was no longer employed at the school. The Journal reports that a Zoom hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 14 at 8:30 a.m.

Fox 9 reports that a student and two others picked up Waibel and parked under a bridge, according to court documents. There, they walked to a nearby sandbar, and Waibel reportedly pulled out a blunt and passed it to the students. All three students in the incident reported smoking cannabis.

A priest associated with the New Ulm Diocese dropped the dime and called police on January 14 after a school administrator alerted him that students had been smoking with their teacher. Lead priest named New Ulm Police Investigator Jeff Hohensee identified The Free Press. One student was an adult, three others were minors.

Hohensee then talked to the parents of the students and questioned them at the Neu-Ulm police station.

Police questioned several students, including another student who admitted to smoking in Waibel’s home on another occasion. He admitted that the adult student picked up a teenage student after school and drove to the teacher’s house, where they smoked weed from a bong. One student said they hit the bong with Waibel between 10 and 20 times.

One of the students told police that Waibel “has always provided the marijuana free of charge,” according to the complaint.

It’s a high school fantasy to be “smokin’ in the boys room,” but a nightmare for the parents and teachers who are accused of contributing to underage children.

Police executed a search warrant, and a Brown Lyon Redwood Renville Drug Task Force agent took photographs and gathered evidence. Police seized items including flowers, wax, a grinder and a colorful bong.

The estimated weight of the wax is 3/4 gram.

Waibel was taken to the Brown County Jail in New Ulm, Minnesota, where he was subsequently released after posting $10,000 bail.

Contribution to a minor in Minnesota

So what exactly is Waibel looking at in terms of punishment?

The penalty for contributing to crime by a minor is a felony under Minnesota law, and the maximum penalty is one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Under Minnesota statute section 152.027, possession of less than 42.5 grams of cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by a $200 fine and no jail time. Over that amount but under 10 kilograms, a felony charge could be imposed with a $10,000 fine and five years in prison.

New Ulm Area Catholic Schools did not immediately respond to comment.

In October 2021, a South Carolina elementary school teacher was prosecuted and lost her job after a student in her class pulled a packet of cannabis edibles from a box of treats intended as prizes to reward students.

In 2020, the board of directors of Marion County Public Schools in Florida suspended a teacher and student services director from Belleview High School for his use of medicinal cannabis.