GOP lawmakers are circulating legislation to criminalize grooming following backlash over the Department of Public Instruction’s handling of educator misconduct.
Lawmakers have criticized DPI’s approach to misconduct following a Capital Times report finding the agency investigated more than 200 teachers, aides, substitutes and administrators between 2018 and 2023 related to accusations of sexual misconduct or grooming behaviors.
State Superintendent Jill Underly and Gov. Tony Evers have both voiced support for creating a statutory definition of grooming.
The new bill would make it a Class G felony to groom a child for sexual activity. Class G felonies carry a fine of up to $25,000, up to 10 years in prison, or both. Under the bill, the penalty for grooming would be raised in certain situations, including if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child, if the child has a disability known to the person, and if the violation involves two or more children. The perpetrator would be required to register as a sex offender.
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Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, is leading the proposal with Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp.
“As a mom, I know the extent of trust that parents place in the people who care for their children,” Nedweski said. “When that trust is betrayed and those adults prey on our children’s innocence, the consequences should be severe and certain. Right now, many predators are able to evade accountability because Wisconsin does not have criminal penalties for grooming a child. Our bill changes that.”
The bill would define grooming as “a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Examples would include verbal comments, suggestions, or conversations of a sexual nature, inappropriate or sexualized physical contact, written, electronic, or digital communications to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child, and isolating a child.
