Kelly Casper Wisconsin superintendent forces 6 female students to take off their clothes during search for vaping devices at a school bathroom.
‘I was too scared to say no….’ The lead administrator of a Wisconsin public school system was charged Monday with false imprisonment after forcing six female students to take off their clothes as she searched their clothes for vaping devices.
Suring Schools superintendent Kelly Casper is accused of holding the girls in a high school bathroom while she and the school nurse asked them to strip to their underwear in most cases, according to court documents.
The state originally declined to issue charges in the Jan. 18 incident, determining that no ‘strip’ searches had occurred and therefore no laws had been broken. Oconto County District Attorney Edward Burke Jr. said the initial investigation focused on the search of the students and not their confinement.
‘Upon their review, the state found that Casper lacked legal authority to confine the students in a small restroom in the school complex,’ Burke’s statement said. ‘The state also found that the students did not consent to being confined, nor were they given the opportunity to leave or contact their parents.’
In interviews with deputies, one of the girls said she was ‘too scared to say no, because she thought she was going to get in trouble,’ according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Greenbay Press-Gazette. Another allegedly said ‘she felt violated and that the school should have no right to search students the way they had with her.’
Superintendents status at school not known
Casper, 51, of Coleman was charged with six counts of false imprisonment. If convicted, the educator could face a maximum penalty of six years in prison on each count. Her first court appearance is set for March 23.
The school nurse in the complaint has not been charged with any crime.
Casper’s status with the district wasn’t clear late Monday.
Casper has served as the Suring school district’s superintendent since 2015.
Jeff Olson, a civil rights attorney based in Madison, told WLUK-TV that ‘most of the families’ involved in the searches retained his services two days after the decision to forego charges.
