KENOSHA — A former Kenosha teacher made a plea deal in court Thursday afternoon to child enticement and pornography charges.
Nathan Gardner pleaded guilty to using a computer to facilitate sex crimes, while four other charges were dropped.
According to a criminal complaint, Gardner, an orchestra teacher at Indian Trail High School and Academy, pretended to be an 18-year-old on an app, and exchanged inappropriate messages and pictures with a freshman.
TMJ4 started looking into further into this after the accusations of misconduct of another teacher came to light earlier this week.
Parents said it seems a trend is happening with Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) after three teachers in the last five years have been accused of misconduct.
In 2019, Curtiss Tolefree was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a student and exposing genitals. Court documents show Tolefree had a sexual relationship with a high schooler when he was dean of students at Bradford High School.
Tolefree's case is still going through the legal process right now.
We asked KUSD's spokesperson if they'd interview with us about the district's policies and procedures when it comes to vetting and hiring employees. They refused an interview and didn't respond to an email with questions regarding the process.
We also went to the Kenosha Education Association, the union that represents staff in the district. No one was there at the time, but the president later sent the following statement:
“I do not personally know the three people you referenced in your email, but as a parent of a child in KUSD, I can sympathize with the outrage in our community. However, it is a grave injustice to imply that their behavior in any way represents the nearly 2,000 hard-working, caring, and dedicated educators in Kenosha.
As an elementary teacher, I also cannot speak to how the hiring and vetting process is conducted by KUSD administrators, but from conversations with many of my colleagues, it is clear that teachers across the district would resoundingly applaud a transparent, fair, and rigorous hiring process.
In order to recruit and retain the highest-quality educators, KUSD school board members must prioritize salary-adjustments that keep up with the rate of inflation, and create policies to hold administrators accountable for supporting educators and ensuring the safety of our children in every building."
This is a story we're continuing to follow.
If you're a Kenosha parent who has concerns please email Jenna.Rae@tmj4.com.
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