William Rehnstrand
Posted by Webmaster in Administrators, Hall of Shame, High Schools, History, ME-MV, Minnesota, Wisconsin
(11/07/08 – Initial BadBadTeacher.com Report)
William Charles Rehnstrand, 65, a retired history teacher and former school board member in Superior, Wisconsin, has been arrested on allegations of having had sexual contact with a 17-year-old male student during a school trip to Minnesota.
Rehnstrand has been charged with third degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly performing oral sex on the boy while the two slept in the same bed during a school sponsored trip to Eden Prairie.
Rehnstrand was a volunteer mentor during the trip and allegedly admitted the sexual conduct to police, admitting he knew the victim was under 18 years of age and that he was in a position of mentorship.
Rehnstrand reportedly came to the attention of authorities by way of a report to the principal of Superior Senior High School who in turn called police.
Rehnstrand was an educator for 31 years, with 28 of them at Superior High School. He was elected to the board in 2000, two years after he retired. He resigned from the school board prior to his arrest.
11/19/08 – Hearing Postponed
A court hearing scheduled for today was postponed when William Rehnstrand’s defense attorney asked for a continuance because he has requested police audio recordings of his client’s statements.
Reportedly the hearing has been continued until December 2nd.
02/03/09 – Hearing Postponed
A hearing scheduled for today for William Rehnstrand was postponed until February 24th.
Reportedly this is at least the third postponement in the case.
If the case is not settled at the February 24 hearing, a jury trial is set for April 13.
02/24/09 – Guilty Plea
William Rehnstrand has pleaded guilty in Hennepin County Court to one count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.
Sentencing is set for March 3rd.
Rehnstrand, who was released pending sentencing, has been ordered to have no contact with the victim or his family, will not have unsupervised contact with minors and will not own or distribute pornography.
Rehnstrand will also complete a sex offender program, though the specific program has yet to be selected.
03/03/09 – Sentencing
Today Judge Philip Bush sentenced William Rehnstrand to three years in prison, however the judge stayed that sentence and ordered Rehnstrand to serve 180 days in the county workhouse.
Rehnstrand may apply for home monitoring after serving 60 days in the workhouse.
Following his sentence Rehnstrand will be on probation for 15 years.
Rehnstrant must register with the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as a predatory offender, provide a DNA sample, have no direct or indirect contact with the victim or the victim’s family and have no unsupervised contact with any male or female under age 18.
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To Whom It May Concern..To me this case is not as complex as it may seem. First of all, rationally, he is a very intelligent man/teacher who performed his job very well for many, many years. However, lets look at the dark side (emotionally) of this human being. He groomed, for many months or years, a person who he had authority over and who looked up to him as a teacher and adult. Now, when it came the right time, on a school sponsored trip, where no other adults were present, he unleased his closet sexuality on the male victim.. HOW CAN YOU FEEL SORRY FOR THAT….How can you feel sorry when you hear he had been fantasizing about being with the victim? You should understand the seed was planted in the perpetrator long before this offense occurred. Now he should be monitored for the remainder of his life, since he has a fetish for young boys..Would you take your young male child(ren) around him!!
This is a tragic case. As a female, myself and other female students felt that Bill favored the males in the classroom. There were, of course, rumors. Nothing is/was founded about friendships, etc. with students. Bill was a very important teacher to me even though I had mixed feelings about him and his classroom biases. The student who was abused was definitely a victim of a lopsided power dynamic. Yet, part of me thinks it was/is all an event fueled by misunderstanding, a huge mistake, and power imbalance. I don’t think Bill is a predator. I do think he made an enormous mistake. I feel for the victim. And I feel sorry for Bill (although in a pathetic sort of way). How very, very sad for all involved. How very, very sad for any of us who looked up to Bill. How very, very sad for us knowing Bill made positive impacts on us yet not wanting to “own” that truth due to his grave error.