4 days ago
Rufus King High School teacher pleads guilty to sexual misconduct charge
A former teacher at Rufus King High School pled guilty to sexual misconduct after accusations of inappropriate behavior towards four of her students surfaced earlier this year.
Erica Allemang-Reinke, 40, will face 24 months of probation for one felony count of sexual misconduct by a school staff member and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Allemang-Reinke also forfeited her teaching license as part of the plea deal.
At a July 15 hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, two of the four students who had accused the teacher of misconduct — and two of their parents — testified to the impact the teacher's conduct had on their mental health and educational careers.
"The amount of damage Erica has done in my family and to my child, is unmeasurable," Rufus King parent Raylena Windmon said at the hearing.
Allemang-Reinke has been a teacher since 2008, and employed at Rufus King since the 2013-14 school year, according to her attorney, Craig Mastantuono. She apologized for her actions during the hearing.
"I am so sorry to parents and students that I've hurt," Allemang-Reinke said. "I have been seeking therapy due to this incident, and I've come to the realization that I've had an issue with boundaries. It just has never come into fruition until my 17th year of teaching, due to the fact that I felt more students seem to have more social needs this past year."
"It was not my job to fulfill those social needs."
On April 21, Allemang-Reinke was charged with four felony counts of sexual misconduct by a school staff member or volunteer. According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, students on the basketball team at Rufus King High School told a school resource officer on April 15 that Allemang-Reinke had been inappropriately contacting them throughout the 2024-25 school year.
The north side magnet school's principle communicated to parents on April 16 that a teacher was not working while an investigation was conducted, but did not name Allemang-Reinke. According to the teacher's attorney, Allemang-Reinke found out about the charges filed against her from the news, and she turned herself in to police.
According to the complaint, students alleged Allemang-Reinke asked for them to share their phone numbers and locations with her. They claim she sent them cash or gifts, made inappropriate comments and — in one case — touched a student inappropriately. One student also said that Allemang-Reinke offered to perform a sex act with them, which the student declined.
When the charges were filed, the four student victims were all between the ages of 16 and 18.
As part of a plea deal, Allemang-Reinke pled guilty to the first sexual misconduct charge, and to a lesser second charge of disorderly conduct. The third and fourth sexual misconduct charges were dismissed.
She was sentenced to 18 months of initial confinement in prison and an additional two years of extended supervision on the first charge, and 90 days in the Community Reintegration Center on the second charge. However, the judge stayed both sentences, instead placing the former teacher on probation for two years.
A "stayed" sentence means the sentence is not imposed as long as certain conditions are met. In this case, those conditions include not contacting any of the victims or Rufus King High School, no unsupervised contact with any individuals under 18 except for relatives, forfeiting her teaching license, undergoing a sex offender assessment and maintaining employment.
Allemang-Reinke will also pay restitution to three victims and relatives, totaling $3,004.
Mastantuono noted the teacher demonstrated an "extraordinary" amount of cooperation with the law enforcement investigation into the charges against her. After turning herself in for arrest, Allemang-Reinke spent four days in custody. She consented to let Milwaukee Police Department officers search her phone.
As of July 15, Allemang-Reinke's teaching license is listed as "under investigation" on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction registry, as it has been since at least April 22.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rufus King High School teacher pleads guilty to sexual misconduct
