Waukesha — An Oconomowoc School District teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a girl he met and taught while he was a student teacher in the Waukesha district, according to Waukesha police and a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Bryan F. Wendt, 27, of Palmyra was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child and two counts of child enticement.
Wendt taught at Waukesha's Central Middle School in the spring of 2008 and developed a friendship with the girl when she was an eighth-grader, the complaint says.
The friendship turned sexual in summer 2009, and Wendt admitted to investigators that he had sex with the girl numerous times between Aug. 17 and May 14, according to the complaint and Deputy District Attorney Stephen J. Centinario Jr.
The first incident occurred about a week before the girl's 15th birthday, Centinario told Commissioner Martin Binn during Wendt's initial court appearance Monday afternoon.
Binn ordered Wendt held on $25,000 bail.
According to the complaint, Wendt told police that he had sex with the girl in his brother's van at David's Park in Waukesha and most recently a week or two ago in the parking lot of Waukesha South High School after the two attended a play there.
Wendt was a physical education teacher at Central Middle School for half a semester in 2008, Waukesha Superintendent Todd Gray said. At the time, Wendt was attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Gray said.
In the Oconomowoc district, Wendt is a physical education teacher at Summit Elementary and Park Lawn Elementary.
Put on unpaid leave
Oconomowoc Superintendent Patricia Neudecker said Monday that Wendt has been placed on unpaid leave through the end of the school year.
He is in his second year of teaching at the district, Neudecker said.
Neudecker said parents were informed about the situation through the district's alert system, which includes e-mail and telephone notification.
Waukesha police Capt. Dennis Angle said the department began investigating Wendt on May 19 after school officials informed police about a possible sexual relationship between a student and teacher.
Two students reported their suspicions to a school social worker, which prompted the investigation, Angle said.
Angle said police are looking into the possibility of other victims, mainly because as a teacher Wendt had access to children.
Wendt told police that he knows the girl is 15, but "he loves her."
The Waukesha and Oconomowoc districts are cooperating with the authorities, the superintendents said.
Wendt was arrested Friday, his birthday.
His wife filed for divorce Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court. According to the paperwork she filed, the two were married May 16, 2009.
Outside the courtroom Monday, a parent who has children attending Oconomowoc schools where Wendt taught described him as a wonderful teacher.
"I've never seen a teacher so dedicated to these kids, especially the cognitively delayed, special needs kids," Loree Kramar said.
"I'm going to back him 100%. And if he's guilty in the end, he made a poor choice," Kramar said. "People do make bad choices in life. I'm sure this would be a horrific choice . . . if proven this is what he did."
Wendt's attorney, Paul Bucher, said after the hearing, "At this point, it's an allegation. . . . It's an unfortunate case. However, at this early point in the proceedings, we certainly intend to contest the allegations."
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 3.
If convicted, Wendt faces up to 80 years of initial confinement in prison.