Wisconsin Teacher Felony Abuse Charges

Many Waukesha and Milwaukee residents played sports when they were in high school, and for those student-athletes, they know how boring practice can get. The weekly grind of school added on to the often repetitive exercises (and hours) put in at practice to get better at your respective sport could make the mind wander. Well one girls basketball coach — who doubled as the Wisconsin high school’s chemistry teacher — tried to break the monotony of practice by bringing in dry ice to show his athletes.

The 42-year-old coach touched the dry ice to his arms and tongue as a demonstration before asking his players if they wanted to hold the dry ice. Some obliged and allegedly were burned by the dry ice. The school warned the 42-year-old about his conduct, which he apologized for, and police investigators said no further action needed to be taken. Yet, surprisingly to some, felony abuse charges were brought against the coach.

Prosecutors, though, did not have enough evidence and a judge promptly dismissed the charges which, based on the investigators’ opinion, seemed flimsy to begin with. The 42-year-old seems well liked by his peers, as his school superintendent said he felt the felony abuse charges were “disproportional” to the incident in question. “We were surprised charges were filed in the first place,” the superintendent said. “I’m very pleased that our employee has been absolved of that.”

The 42-year-old was placed on paid administrative leave, but the school intends to bring him back soon. “I’m hopeful that we can get this ironed out and get him back as quickly as possible,” the superintendent said.