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.
Entries (RSS)
September 4th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
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!!
September 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am
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.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:51 pm
It’s too bad that he came to this, Bill was the best teacher I had in that school. He really should have known better.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:04 am
This guy has done things like this before (with underage boys), this is just the first time it has come to this. They should lock him up and throw away the key.
April 24th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Bill Rehnstrand’s case marks the complexity of the human creature. Though I will win no points for supporting him because of his crimes, I believe he is a good teacher who made a bad decision. I do not take the impact his actions had on the other person in this case lightly, however, I do feel that to look at a human being as a binary construct, of either being “Good” or “Bad” or “Right” or “Wrong” diminishes what it means to be human.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Slander is a tort (civil wrong). The wronged person can bring suit, or not. If it was illegal, then he could be arrested by the police. OK?
If that’s all Bill has done, no big deal. He didn’t kill anyone, he didn’t kidnap anyone, he wasn’t selling drugs and he certainly didn’t force himself on the kid. The kid was 17 and certainly not a child. Had he been 4 years old, then this would be a whole ‘nuther deal.
This kid knew what he was doing OTHERWISE HE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SLEEPING WITH BILL IN THE FIRST PLACE!! Hello? I just hope the name of that 17 year old will always be known and his actions follow him for the better part of his life. The kids was by no means innocent in this mess! This gay kid and his parents (how proud of their son they must be, huh) should have confronted Bill and ended the thing right then and there. But to call the police? What a bunch of jerks.
I’ve known Bill since he was 5 years old. Lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same school. His terrific parents and my dad were very good friends. The whole Rehnstrand family was first class and always treated me as part of the family.
Probabtion instead of 3 years inside? Oh, was he lucky. I’ve spent a few in Rahway State prison (weapons, motorcycle club) and it’s a pure, living hell. I live in Manhattan & Los Angeles.
If anyone see’s Bill, tell him “Hi, Corky” for me. His nickname as long as I’ve known him.
Ain’t life a bitch?
And, oh yeah, why don’t the rest of you commentors LEARN HOW TO SPELL? This country’s last 2 generations are nothing but junk. That’s not just my opinion, either.
In keeping with site policies as outlined in the “Comments” page the last name of the person purported to have left this comment has been altered to an initial only by the site moderator.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Isn’t slander illegal? Steve F should be careful… we all know who he is, too! Apologies or not… slander is illegal!