wispolitics.com is reporting today that the GOP chair of Brown County, Wisconsin has been charged with "performing sexual acts on a boy under 18 and giving marijuana to a minor." Brown County is comprised mostly of the city of Green Bay, along with a few outlying communities -- as any football fan would know, it is an industrial area with a strongly working class, white ethnic population. In last year's congressional election, Brown County sent a Democrat, Dr. Steve Kagen, to Congress for the first time in twenty years. Local politics are still heavily GOP. With these revelations, following last year's tough election defeat, one wonders whether the tide might be turning.
More on the flip...
The wispolitics.com report states that the complaint, filed on September 7 of this year, charges GOP County Chair Donald Fleischman with
felony counts of child enticement and exposing himself to a child along with two misdemeanor counts for contributing to the delinquency of a child and one misdemeanor for exposing himself to a child
He faces a maximum sentence of 52 years and three months in prison and a maximum fine of $230,000. The Republican Party of Wisconsin claims they learned today of the criminal complaint -- filed over a month ago -- and that Fleischman has resigned his position.
The criminal complaint contains some explosive allegations, including that Fleischman provided runaway teenagers with beer, marijuana, and a place to stay. A.C.O., a teen informant, told the police:
when he would go to bed, the defendant would follow him and fondle him. A.C.O. states on that Wednesday night, he woke up and the defendant was masturbating to his feet. A.C.O. states the defendant was lying on the bed sideways and he was rubbing his penis on A.C.O.'s feet... A.C.O. states on the following Friday night, the police came and picked him up and he was released to his parents.
According to wispolitics.com, the teens involved lived in a group home for at-risk youth located across the street from Fleischman's home, and they had all been placed there through the juvenile justice system. One victim claimed to the police that Fleischman had said
it would be cool for him to have two 16-year-old roommates and he stated he would even do their laundry for them.
Where he's going, he'll get plenty of opportunities to do laundry. He might even be able to make a license plate or two...
No indications from the reporting whether Fleischman has a "wide stance."
Update: per a comment by kaleidoscope, this was first reported on dkos two days ago in a diary by kossack Goofticket. Goofticket asked for verification, which the criminal complaint linked in this diary confirms.