Sun Prairie West High School Investigation Completed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 9, 2026
 
Sun Prairie, WI — The Sun Prairie Police Department has completed its criminal investigation into the incident at Sun Prairie West High School.

As previously announced, former Dean of Students Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier was arrested in July 2025 for multiple criminal offenses involving student victims. That criminal investigation is complete.

As part of this investigation, the Police Department also examined the actions of other school staff. Based on the evidence, two separate incidents involving Sun Prairie West High School Principal Jennifer Ploeger were identified that required mandatory reporting under Wisconsin law and were not properly reported.

The first incident occurred in April 2025 and involved Gilkey-Meisegeier. Based on the initial tip regarding his conduct and the information available to Principal Ploeger at that time, the investigation found that she was required under Wisconsin law to report the incident to law enforcement or Dane County Human Services. The investigation determined that no such mandatory report was made.

The second incident involved a January 2025 allegation concerning a different teacher at Sun Prairie West High School. Multiple students reported observing the teacher engage in physical contact and sexual conversations involving students. Principal Ploeger investigated the complaints, and the school district initiated a Title IX investigation that was closed after the teacher resigned from the Sun Prairie Area School District. During her investigation, Principal Ploeger discussed the matter with the school resource officer but characterized the physical contact as positive praise and did not disclose the full context of the reported conduct. The victim chose not to pursue criminal charges against the teacher.

Based on these two investigations, the Sun Prairie Police Department referred two counts of violation of Wis. Stat. § 48.981, Failure to Report Abused or Neglected Children by a School Administrator, to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office. After review of the evidence, the District Attorney will be filing charges against Principal Jennifer Ploeger.

In addition to the charges against Jennifer Ploeger, the Sun Prairie Police Department also referred charges to the Dane County District Attorney's Office against Chris Sadler. The department referred charges for Failure to Report and Misconduct in Office against Sadler. Following this initial referral, an additional interview was conducted. The charge of Misconduct in Office was subsequently rescinded. The Failure to Report remained as a referred charge for review by the Dane County District Attorney's Office. We have since been informed that the Dane County District Attorney's Office will not be issuing the Failure to Report charge.

With these referrals, the criminal investigation into this matter is complete, and no additional criminal charges are anticipated. If additional information comes forward, the Police Department will investigate.

Protecting children is a legal duty and a core responsibility of all mandated reporters. The Sun Prairie Police Department remains committed to accountability, transparency, and the safety of every child in our community.

Media Contact:
Lt. Ray Thomson
Sun Prairie Police Department
rthomson@cityofsunprairie.com
(608) 513-8506