If you believe your child has been victimized by Powers, please contact Investigator Andrew Willis at 262.636.3323 or andrew.willis@racinecounty.com.
BURLINGTON, Wis. — Additional charges were filed Thursday against a 57-year-old former teacher's aide who is accused of sexually assaulting children at Dyer Elementary in the City of Burlington.
Daniel D. Powers has now been charged with five counts of repeated sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl, first degree child sex assault, and one count repeated sexual assault of the same child.
Powers was previously charged with three counts of repeated sexual assault.
TMJ4 does not normally use mughots in our reporting. However, due to the possibility of there being more victims, we have decided to use his mugshot in this report.
A criminal complaint filed Thursday states several reports were given to the Racine County Sheriff's Office regarding a teacher's aide at Dyer Elementary. People reported the aide had been inappropriately touching female students, mostly those in the 5th grade. The teacher's aide was identified as Powers. All the students are under the age of 13.
The complaint says all of the incidents took place during the 2021-2022 school year between August of 2021 and April of this year.
According to the new criminal complaint, Dyer Principal Scott Schimmel, who has since been placed on leave, told investigators the first report filed against Powers was on March 16. A 10-year-old student told Schimmel she was "uncomfortable with the defendant hugging her," according to the complaint.
Schmmel reported the second report came from the parent of an 11-year-old girl on April 7. A third complaint was then received regarding three 10-year-old girls.
According to the complaint, investigators interviewed three 10-year-old girls in the 5th grade class. One reported Powers would touch her almost every day in ways that made her uncomfortable.
A second student reported inappropriate touching happening during the same school year. She said that it was regular and it often happened when teachers were not in the classroom.
The third student reported witnessing Powers touch female classmates every day. This student also reported that Powers would touch her more when teachers were not around.
A fourth student said she was also touched inappropriately and would avoid Powers since the incident, the complaint says.
An interview with a fifth student on May 6 involved a 12-year-old girl who was also assaulted. She said she had been told by others to "watch out" for Powers and that he was "weird."
While interviewing a sixth student, the 12-year-old girl said she told her mom that Powers would inappropriately touch her while pushing her on the swing. The complaint says the girl told her mom she never reported what Powers did "for fear he would get angry and do something else." The student also said that Powers allegedly told the children "he was no longer allowed to push them on the swings." Three more students also told investigators they were inappropriately touched on the swing.
Another girl in the 3rd grade told investigators that after being touched inappropriately, she found Powers "creepy" but that she was "told by her other teacher that she was not to say things like that" about Powers, according to the complaint. The girl said she was even held in for recess for "disrespecting a teacher's aide."
According to the complaint, two students noted Powers would go into the girls bathroom, which made them both uncomfortable. One of the girls said she told another teacher "she didn't think boys should be in the girls' bathroom."
An additional student also told investigators she had seen Powers take photos of girls while they were outside on the playground.
The Racine County Sheriff's Office said that Powers worked at the Burlington Area School District for 15 years. He was placed on administrative leave on April 13 and terminated April 19.
During Powers' initial hearing on April 27, a judge issued $50,000 cash bond. He is to be placed on house arrest with GPS monitoring.
Powers returns to court for a preliminary hearing on May 25 at 10 a.m.
If you believe your child has been victimized by Powers, please contact Investigator Andrew Willis at 262.636.3323 or andrew.willis@racinecounty.com.
