seductress
Well-Known Member
A 61-year-old man who works as a part-time aquatics program coordinator for the West Allis-West Milwaukee Recreation Department was in jail Thursday, suspected of sexually assaulting young boys for more than 30 years, authorities said.
Daniel Acker of Waukesha was arrested Monday during a swim practice at West Milwaukee Middle School, said Deputy Inspector Bradley Wentlandt of the Greenfield Police Department. Acker is suspected of assaulting boys between the ages of 7 and 15 from the 1970s to 2008, police said.
Acker is suspected in hundreds of assaults involving dozens of children over the years, police said. Some of the assaults are alleged to have occurred in Greenfield.
Acker has been placed on leave by the recreation department and is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail pending charges.
The recreation department is run by the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, Superintendent Kurt Wachholz said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Wachholz said the district reported to the Greenfield Police Department on Monday a complaint from a citizen alleging criminal conduct by the part-time employee that occurred many years ago in Greenfield.
Wentlandt said police received a tip Monday morning that led them to four male victims, now all in their 40s. One of the men alleged that Acker assaulted him at least 100 times, Wentlandt said.
Police then spoke with a 19-year-old man who told investigators that he and Acker started having sex when the man was 15 or 16, Wentlandt said. The man told police that he and Acker are still in a sexual relationship, Wentlandt said.
Police are seeking charges in connection with the 19-year-old man's allegations, but investigators hope other victims come forward as the case evolves, Wentlandt said.
"We know there are other victims out there," he said.
Acker has provided police with a confession in relation to the allegations, Wentlandt said.
Acker has had access to children as a swim instructor, coach and lifeguard throughout the Milwaukee area for more than 40 years, Wentlandt said. He is a former employee of the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex and Child/Adolescent Treatment Center, according to police.
As the aquatic programs coordinator for the recreation department, Acker's duties included setting up the swim schedule and coordinating lifeguards and instructors for the department's four pools, at Nathan Hale and Central high schools and Frank Lloyd Wright and West Milwaukee middle schools, Wachholz said.
Wachholz said Acker had worked for the district for "a number of years," but he could not pinpoint the exact length of time and didn't discuss details of the allegations. Acker worked mainly from an office at the recreation department, 2930 S. Root River Parkway in West Allis.
"We have been informed that an ongoing police investigation is being conducted that may also now include the West Allis-West Milwaukee community," he said.
Student services staff will be available at each of the district's schools to address questions or concerns from children and families in the community, Wachholz said.
"We want to assure you that the safety, well-being and protection of the children in our district and community are our No. 1 priority," Wachholz said in a written statement.
Although there's now no statute of limitations on sexual assault of a child, that law did not go into effect until the mid-1980s. That means any offenses alleged to have occurred before that cannot be charged, Wentlandt noted.
Wentlandt said his department has assigned 11 people to the case this week, working at least 18 hours a day. So far, between 25 and 50 suspected victims have been interviewed, many of whom don't want to be involved in allegations.
"Most of these people are currently in their 40s, and they've held this secret for 30 years," Wentlandt said.