Trial ordered for teacher in sexual assaults of Waukesha student

By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Waukesha - A teacher accused of sexually assaulting a girl was ordered to stand trial Thursday after a Waukesha police detective testified the teacher admitted during questioning that he had sex with the girl on a number of occasions.

Bryan F. Wendt, 27, an Oconomowoc School District teacher, was charged May 24 with two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child and two counts of child enticement-sexual contact.

Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf after Thursday's preliminary hearing in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Wendt met the girl when he was a student teacher at the Waukesha School District's Central Middle School in the spring of 2008, according to court records.

They developed a friendship and it turned sexual in the summer of 2009, according to the criminal complaint and testimony from Detective Richard Haines. The complaint says the sexual assaults occurred between Aug. 17, 2009, and May 14, 2010.

The first incident occurred while the girl was still 14, authorities have said.

During a May 21 interview, Wendt, of North Prairie, acknowledged that he had sexual encounters with the girl, Haines testified. Most of these occurrences were at a city park near the girl's home but one or two times sexual contact occurred at Waukesha South High School, the detective testified in response to questions from Assistant District Attorney Lloyd V. Carter.

According to the criminal complaint, Wendt told police that he had sex with the girl in his brother's van at the park and in the parking lot of the high school.

Asked by Carter if Wendt knew how old the girl was, Haines responded, "Mr. Wendt indicated that he was very well aware that she was only 15 years of age."

Wendt's attorney, Paul E. Bucher, argued Thursday that prosecutors might be overreaching on the child enticement charges. Bucher said the girl willingly entered the van and Haines agreed that was true.

But Commissioner Martin Binn let the charges stand and said based on the testimony that there was probable cause to believe that Wendt committed a felony and ordered him to stand trial.

Wendt has been placed on unpaid leave in the Oconomowoc district, where he is a physical education teacher.