A teacher at a Christian elementary school in Wisconsin, known for choosing a new “favorite” boy each year, is facing child sex charges after pulling down a 10-year-old student’s pants and comparing himself to Jesus as a defense for his creepy behavior.
Daniel Rick, 36, who is also the athletic director at Christ Alone Lutheran School in Thiensville, was reported on Nov. 15 to police by child services, who alleged he had “inappropriate contact with a boy student,” according to court documents obtained by WISN.
Prosecutors alleged that the teacher picked a “favorite” male student each year who he would have sit on his lap, where he would touch their stomachs, rub their backs and kiss them, prosecutors said.
Rick told one such student that he had to stop, fearing he could lose his job or be thrown in jail, Fox6 Now reported.
Last month, investigators learned that in January 2024, Rick pulled down a 10-year-old student’s pants in his classroom when he asked the boy to see him after school. He compared the boy’s athletic abilities to older students in the seventh and eighth grades, then pulled the boy’s pants down to “see his pubic hair,” prosecutors said.
That same month, one child’s parents confronted him and “raised concerns about appropriate boundaries and physical contact.” It’s not clear if it was parents of the same child he allegedly assaulted in the classroom.
Rick immediately broke down crying when the parents approached and tried to justify the concerning behavior likening himself to Jesus Christ.
“I compare it to the story in the Bible and Jesus saying, ‘Let the little children come to me,’” he allegedly said.
During an interview with investigators last week, Rick “claimed that he did not initiate the physical contact and that it was always the students who started it.”
Rick allowed police search his phone and confessed to viewing pornography involving younger males, prosecutors said.
He resigned from teaching two days after the misconduct was reported by child services in November. School officials told parents in an email at the time his departure was “a result of personal reasons that require his focus and attention,” WISN reported.
Rick was arrested on Friday and charged with child enticement-expose genitals/pubic area/intimate parts and exposing genitals/pubic area/intimate parts to a child. He is being held in Ozaukee County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond, jail records show.
If convicted, he could face up to 28 years in prison, according to WISN.
School officials have reached to parents and urged them to contact police if they believe their child may have been a victim.
Thiensville is a small town of about 3,200 people about 20 miles north of downtown Milwaukee.
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