Smalltown School Superintendent Faces Charges for Touching Kids Just Months After Teacher Sentenced for Child Sex Crimes

     Suring, Wisconsin, is a small town, population 489. There's one school, a general store, a gas station, and probably more bars per capita than people. There's also no doubt that this is Trump country, with the largest flag or banner in the town a crude one with black paint on white cloth that declares Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, the equivalent of Hitler for his support of abortion rights and institution of public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that's just after the bus retrofitted to say "Trump Train" lying abandoned in a field. All of this in an area not much bigger than a football field. This town, however, has some dark secrets.

     There are more than two dozen sex offenders who live in Suring, a rate of five percent of the total population, or five times the national average. The newest member of this disgusting club is John E. Fredenburgh, 37. From October 2020 to February 2021, this village trustee was employed as a substitute teacher at the local school, which is scary for a number of reasons. Firstly, he was in a position of power; secondly, he sought employment with children; third, he had a wife and minor children who all maintain he is innocent. Chiefly, on December 3rd, 2021, Fredenburgh pleaded guilty to interstate commerce for the sexual exploitation of a child and enticement of a minor after being busted by the Oconto County Sheriff's Office and Menominee, Michigan Police Department for molesting a young girl, a former student of his, over the course of several years in the latter town between the ages of 12 and 17. Menominee is much different than Suring: population 8,079, it sits just along the Michigan-Wisconsin border and is a picturesque tourist destination with beaches, a lighthouse, and dozens of local restaurants and shops. It's a beautiful place and a favorite summer destination of mine. Because Fredenburgh crossed state lines, if not by much, his case was picked up federally. On March 14th, 2022, he was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison with lifetime probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender. 

     Sadly, he's not the only district employee to face felony charges for crimes against children. Superintendent Kelly Casper, who suspected high school students of vaping, unconstitutionally and unlawfully conducted strip searches of six students. She has been charged with six counts of false imprisonment, which carries a maximum combined penalty of 36 years in state prison. The superintendent from 2014 to March 2022, she was placed on paid administrative leave by the district, released on a signature bond, and barred from having contact with the children she violated. Unbelievably, even with the testimony given at her first hearing by students who described the emotional impact it had on them, dozens of her supporters showed up at this court appearance. I suppose it's not that surprising: this is the same town that elected John Fredenburgh a village trustee. It's not like she suspected the students of having a gun; she suspected them of vaping. It's also worth noting that no vapes were found, even though that doesn't matter. She was on a power trip and decided to forcibly hold and strip six minors: if anyone did that outside of the school setting, they would be given the full 36 years without question and to great applause. The fact that she is a lifelong educator with roots in the community does not change the fact that she broke the law and hurt six children in a very real way.

     That's two cases in two years on top of the two dozen sex offenders who already live there. Suring has a population that is shrinking and a number of sex offenders (not even including other felons for things like drugs and guns) that is growing. I don't see a bright future for this small town, not when people like John Fredenburgh and Kelly Casper are considered respectable members of the community.