MAP Forum

A pair of Wisconsin lawmakers want to make it a crime for teachers to prey on their students.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, on Monday introduced legislation to make grooming a crime.

“Right now, many predators are able to evade accountability because Wisconsin does not have criminal penalties for grooming a child. Our bill changes that,” Nedweski said in a statement.

There are laws on the books that make it illegal for teachers to have sex with their students, and it has long been a crime for adults to have sex with children. But Wisconsin doesn’t have a specific grooming law.

Police in the state, in response to The Cap Times investigation into how Wisconsin schools deal with grooming, say the lack of a specific law hurts their investigation.

“This critically important piece of legislation will protect our state’s most important and vulnerable assets – our children,” James added.

State Superintendent Jill Underly criticized recent backlash over her department’s handling of sexual misconduct cases as a “partisan political sideshow” and dismissed GOP calls for her resignation as “preposterous.”

Ahead of an informational hearing yesterday before the Senate Education Committee, Underly touted a new online resource listing revoked and surrendered educator licenses. She said DPI is exploring how to include information indicating why licenses were revoked or suspended.

“[Teachers] are not police officers. They are not D.A.s,” Evers said. He added he probably won’t sign the plan. “If it’s going to stop teachers from maybe putting their arm around a kid when they are hurting, probably not.”

The Cap Times reported last month that Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, which Evers used to lead, investigated 200 teachers over a five-year period for grooming or sexual misconduct.

Evers said the problem is defining grooming.

“The issue of grooming is very difficult,” the governor said. “I remember when I was state superintendent, we went through some things to make [the laws] more thoughtful and helpful. But at the end of the day, grooming is something that is hard to define. And if we want it to be against the law, we need to identify what it is.”