Kate Bolduan's secret family agony: New CNN host's 'mother faces jail over DUI crash that left man injured years after she fatally struck girl, 9, with a jet ski'

• Kate Bolduan, 29, will join CNN's new morning show later this spring
• At the same time reports indicate her mother, 60, will face jail for a DUI crash last year
• Nadine Bolduan also 'struck two girls with a jet ski in 1994, killing one'
  

By Lydia Warren and Katie Davies

PUBLISHED: 19:47 EST, 29 March 2013 | UPDATED: 21:54 EST, 29 March 2013

The mother of a CNN reporter who has just been named as the co-host of the network's new morning show is reportedly facing jail for crashing into a man and injuring him while she was drunk driving.

The network announced on Thursday that Kate Bolduan, 29, will co-host its new flagship breakfast show alongside former Good Morning America host and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's brother, Chris Cuomo, when it starts later this spring.

But new job jitters will not be the only anxiety Bolduan faces next month as her mother, 60-year-old Nadine Bolduan, faces sentencing after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and injuring a man.

It comes nearly 20 years after Mrs Bolduan was also charged with reckless homicide after her jet ski struck two children, killing a nine-year-old girl and injuring a 10-year-old.

Trouble back home: CNN's new morning host, Kate Bolduan (left), could see her mother, Nadine Bolduan (right), go to prison next month when she is sentenced for driving while drunk and injuring a man

Mrs Bolduan, a former nurse who has three other daughters and is married to Dr Jeffrey Bolduan, was charged following the crash near the family's hometown of Goshen, Indiana, on May 31, 2012, around 2pm, according to local reports.

Her Chevrolet Avalanche collided nearly head-on with a Buick LaSabre driven by Paul Fought who was on his way home from work. 

He was pinned in the vehicle by the crash, the Goshen News reported.

CNN said they would not be commenting on the charges against Kate Bolduan's mother, while Bolduan's attorneys did not return MailOnline's request for comment.

There was no answer at the family home in Goshen last night.

Mr Fought, 59, suffered leg fractures, a head injury, a fractured elbow bone, torn muscles in his shoulder and three brain bleeds. He had nine surgeries and still requires shoulder and leg therapy.

He told Mail Online that it had been a long road to recovery but he had found it in his heart to forgive Bolduan.

'By the grace of God, I have healed very well. Last May 31st they weren't even sure I would make it through the night. Today I limp and I have some pain in my arm but I am hoping with exercise it will be better. It has been a year-long process,' he said.

'I just attended the deposition which was attended by Nadine and her husband so we had an opportunity to speak to them face-to-face. She was very, very sorry for what had happened - very remorseful - it was good for all of us.

'I told Nadine when we met with them that we had forgiven them.'

'She and her husband said on oath that she doesn't drink, however that day she did for whatever reason.'

Family support: Kate Bolduan, center, has three sisters and her father, Jeff, is a doctor in Goshen, Indiana

Bolduan testified earlier this month that she had drunk two glasses of red wine before the crash and was intoxicated. Her blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit at 0.19 per cent, according to local reports.

She will be sentenced on April 11 and faces a possible year in jail.

She also faces a suspension of her driving privileges for up to five years and will have to serve a year on probation.

Mr Fought has spoken to the judge and prosecutors to say that she should be given community service.

He said she should be made to interact with 'victims of drunk driving' to understand the consequences of what she did, but jail, in her case, isn't 'the answer'.

While Bolduan's attorneys told Goshen News that she has no prior criminal history, reports show she was charged with reckless homicide in 1994 after her jet ski hit two children on Syracuse Lake.

Elizabeth Leman, 9, was killed and Christa Konarski, 10, was injured as the Bolduans raced their jet skis between two boats, hitting inner-tubes the girls were riding, according to a 1995 Kokomo Tribune report.

Hurt: Paul Fought, pictured with his wife Nancy, still undergoes physical therapy following the crash last year

But in 1995 the charges were dismissed as the court's prosecutor said he believed the actions were negligent, but did not constitute recklessness, the News reported.

The case moved to the civil courts in Elkhart County, where Nadine and her husband Jeffrey Bolduan were ordered to pay the Konarski family more than $1 million.

Judging by Facebook pictures and comments made by Kate in the media, the Bolduans are a tight-knit family who still have close links to each other.

Kate has long left Indiana. She studied journalism at The George Washington University where she was a college athlete in volleyball before moving to North Carolina and most recently Washington D.C. where she works as congressional correspondent of 'The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer' on CNN.

Married: Kate, the youngest co-host of any network morning show, with her husband Michael Gershenson

Politics beat: Kate Bolduan will say farewell to Congress and take up her more prestigious post this Spring

When she was just 11 she credited her mother for her own achievements.

'My mom was a registered nurse when our family moved to Goshen,' she told The Elkhart Truth in 2000. 'Once my little sister was born, she's been here for us full time.'

The report noted that Mrs Bolduan volunteered at the middle school, helped coach the junior cheerleaders and assisted at First English Lutheran Church.

'My parents made me the person I am. My life, my ambitions, my drive come from my parents,' Kate added. 'They've never pushed me in anything, they've allowed me to make my own decisions and my own mistakes.'

Following the announcement of her new job on Thursday, she said it was 'a huge opportunity' and expressed her excitement in joining Cuomo and Michaela Pereira from KTLA Morning News on the new show.

Fresh start: Bolduan will join Chris Cuomo, left, as co-host. KTLA's Michaela Pereira will be News Anchor

Hard-worker: Bolduan is photographed hard at work on International Coastal Clean-Up Day. The TV journalist has been chosen for CNN'S new morning show