OCONTO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Six false imprisonment charges have been dismissed against Suring superintendent Kelly Casper.
The decision comes almost two weeks after Suring’s school board accepted Casper’s resignation, which takes effect June 30th.
On January 17th, Casper and a school nurse allegedly had six female students, between the ages of 14 and 17 years old, strip to their underwear. They were looking for vaping devices and cartridges.
Oconto County District Attorney Edward Burke determined the searches were lawful. However, he filed the false imprisonment charges, claiming the students were illegally confined.
Two days after the charges were filed, the school board placed Casper on administrative leave.
Casper appeared in Oconto County Court on Tuesday, looking to have the criminal charges dismissed.
“Forget the strip search for a minute, she’s not charged with that,” said Corey Chirafisi, Casper’s attorney. “If she puts them in a room to confine them to do something that she’s allowed to do, which is search because of reasonable suspicion, I think we’re done.”
Burke agrees the searches were ok, but maintains the students were illegally confined.
“From the state’s point of view, the confinement as defined by the statute, as defined by the jury instruction, means that she limited their freedom of movement,” said Burke. “What are they supposed to do after they’re placed in that room with no clothing?”
“The idea of putting students into a room, in an attorney general’s opinion, is that is how you’re supposed to do it, away from other students, so the students avoid embarrassment,” said Chirafisi. “Once the searches were done, they were allowed to leave. No one voiced concerns about it and I think she has lawful authority to do it.”
One of the six students involved told the court they felt they had no choice.
“After the searches were done, we did not get to leave the office until that school day was over and we got permission to leave.”
Judge Marc Hammer sided with the defense, agreeing there weren’t enough facts for the charges.
“I just can’t conclude on these facts or infer from these facts that the defendant intended with knowledge to confine.”
The decision was well received by Casper supporters, who filled at least half the court room.
The district attorney does have the option to refile the charges or file new charges, according to Hammer.
Suring School Board President David Lally told FOX 11 the board has no comment on today’s decision or a search for Casper’s replacement.
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