75-year-old teacher gets 10 years for repeated sexual abuse of boy in school’s basement

MONROE COUNTY, Wis. — A 75-year-old former teacher has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage boy in the basement of the private school where she taught.

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Anne Nelson-Koch was convicted on 25 separate counts relating to the sexual abuse — 12 counts of sexual assault of a child, four counts of child enticement, eight counts of exposing intimate parts to a child and one count of intimidating a victim, according to a press release from Assistant District Attorney Sarah M. Skiles.

According to court records, Nelson-Koch was accused in April 2022 of forcing a 14-year-old student to repeatedly engage in sex during school hours throughout the 2016-2017 year.

Nelson-Koch was sentenced by a Monroe County, Wisconsin judge to 10 years in prison which will be followed by 15 years of supervised release. Nelson-Koch was initially facing a maximum of 624 years in prison.

Nelson-Koch taught at Tomah Baptist Academy when the assaults took place, according to People.

“The victim of these crimes is an incredibly brave young man,” Skiles said. “He spoke the truth, and the jury heard him loud and clear. We are so grateful to the jury for their dedication to finding the truth. We could not have achieved this outcome without the victim’s strength.”

In a victim impact statement, the victim’s father said his son wanted to speak out to help make sure that no other child would be harmed by her again. He had also asked for her to be in jail the rest of her life.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections recommended that Nelson-Koch be sentenced to 24-32 years in prison with the lead prosecutor on the case arguing for 100 years in prison.

When deciding the sentence, the judge said Nelson-Koch’s impact on the victim and his family was a major factor. However, he also said that her purported character was a mitigating factor and that a person with her educational and employment history isn’t “someone who normally would be in the criminal justice system facing 600 years in prison.”

On the other hand, Skiles completely disagreed.

According to the police department, the assistant district attorney “attacked Nelson-Koch’s lack of repentance or remorse, calling Nelson-Koch’s virtuous masquerade ‘a calculated attempt to conceal her predatory tendencies.’”

She also argued that a long prison sentence was necessary to help “ensure the seriousness of the sexual assault of a child in a school and the pain endured by the victim weren’t discounted.”