Former Tosa East associate principal pleads guilty to inappropriately touching students in his office

A former Wauwatosa East High School associate principal accused of groping and giving inappropriate hugs to students has changed his plea to guilty. 

Robert L. Day of Milwaukee was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with two counts of disorderly conduct in connection with inappropriate hugs to students. 

He initially pleaded not guilty and signed a $500 signature bond on March 20. On April 23, a deferred prosecution agreement was reached, according to online court records.

The court withheld entry of a judgement of conviction. A review hearing is scheduled for June 18. 

'Inappropriate hugs' 

In October 2018, a Wauwatosa School District officer spoke with two former students who alleged Day had touched them inappropriately while in his office at the school, according to the criminal complaint. 

An 18-year-old woman said that during her sophomore year, Day was sitting in a chair and stretched his arms out to give her a hug then "buried his face in her breasts," the complaint said. A second 18-year-old reported the same kind of incident, on multiple occasions between 2015-18.

The first woman said there were other instances of what she considered inappropriate touching.

Officers also spoke to a 15-year-old student who recounted a time when she was in Day's office. As she was putting items back into her backpack, Day allegedly put his hands around her waist, and then his hands moved to her buttocks for “a little” bit, the complaint said. 

All three students told officers these actions made them extremely uncomfortable and at times caused them to fear for their bodily safety.

Day was put on non-disciplinary administrative leave in October as soon as the district was notified of the external investigation, according to the Wauwatosa School District. 

Wauwatosa school parents were told in a letter emailed from Superintendent Phil Ertl's office on Nov. 9 about the investigation. Day remained on administrative leave pending the completion of the external investigation, and then the internal investigation that followed, the district said.

When a Wauwatosa police detective spoke to Day on Nov. 7, he denied being inappropriate. Although he didn't specifically remember the seated hugs, he said, "If that did happen, it was probably not the best thing to do," the complaint said. 

Day resigned in December. 

Contact Karen Pilarski at karen.pilarski@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarenPilarski.