KENOSHA, Wis. — Wisconsin currently has no law specifically criminalizing child grooming, but a new proposed bill would make it a felony offense.
The proposed bill would make grooming a child for sexual activity a felony. Acts that constitute grooming would include verbal comments and inappropriate or sexualized physical contact toward children, as well as written, electronic or digital communications to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child.
The penalty would be more severe if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child, if the child has a disability, or if multiple children are involved.
The legislation comes nearly two years after a Kenosha middle school teacher was having an inappropriate online relationship with a 14-year-old student, sparking outrage from parents and community members.
In early 2024, parents in Kenosha protested for weeks after learning about the inappropriate relationship between then-middle school teacher Christian Enwright and a student.
Watch: 'Step in the right direction': WI lawmakers propose bill that would make grooming a child a crime
"I'm a victim of grooming that led to sexual abuse, and I pray every day that it doesn't happen to my children," Tina Shatkins, a concerned parent, said in April 2024.
"We're not going to stop until you hear us," Kristy Murphy said during the same protests.
On May 10, 2024, Enwright was charged with 22 counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Court documents showed Enwright inappropriately communicated with the 14-year-old student for months on Snapchat. He pleaded guilty to 15 of the 22 charges nearly a year later.
The caveat was that Enwright could only be charged with disorderly conduct because grooming a child in Wisconsin is not currently a crime.
"The hardest part was knowing it was wrong, building the investigation, and then having to turn to a family and saying I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can charge," Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said.
Patton has been working with legislators to get the law changed.
TMJ4 also spoke with the parents of Enwright's victim. They want to remain anonymous.
"You wish it was already in place, that way he could receive what he deserves. He gets away with it because the law wasn't in place yet; it's like a technicality," the dad said.
Parents of the victim told TMJ4 they're happy to see the new legislation being proposed.
"If something can come of it, then that's great, that's what we've wanted the whole time, a change, you know. It's a step in the right direction," he said. "It sounds like they're catching it all, you know, I mean obviously the digital stuff is huge, that's really where it comes down to," he said. "It's just a tool for these predators."
A tool, Patton said, he hopes can be used for prevention and detection.
"We realized that we found a flaw, and we need the legislators to hear it from us and say, okay, we will give you what you need to make sure you can protect those and make sure it doesn't happen again," Patton added.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
