The Heartland Post’s Alyssa Whitmore dives deep into the immediate success of a new Republican bill criminalizing child grooming.
In the Kenosha Unified School District, a science teacher at KTEC West named Christian Enwright spent months, if not years, methodically grooming a vulnerable 14-year-old female student. He exchanged thousands of Snapchat messages with her; many sent in the dead of night between midnight and 4 a.m. He sent shirtless photos from his bed, gushed over her “dimples… cute ASF,” and described fantasies about being together “in another universe.” Prosecutors called it textbook grooming: emotional manipulation dressed up as mentorship, preying on a child under the guise of support.
School administrators had received prior complaints about Enwright’s behavior with female students, yet he remained in the classroom. When the case finally surfaced through an anonymous tip to child protective services – not through proper mandatory reporting by the district – police uncovered hundreds of messages, compliments about her body, jealousy, and manipulation.
Since Wisconsin had no specific felony grooming law at the time, Enwright was charged with 22 counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct on May 10, 2024. Enwright pleaded guilty to 15 counts in April 2025 and was sentenced in July 2025 to just 15 months in jail and three years of probation.
Then came the final insult to the victim’s family. In early March 2026, Enwright was quietly released from Kenosha County Jail three months early, sparking outrage, accusations that the sheriff’s office misled the public about work crew credits Enwright earned towards his sentence while in custody, and fresh pain for a family already felt betrayed by the system.
A civil lawsuit against both Enwright and the Kenosha Unified School District is now moving forward, alleging the district ignored red flags and failed to protect the child. Adding further insult to injury – Enwright was released from jail on the same day that the new anti-grooming bill was signed into law.
The Enwright case is not an isolated incident. It is the kind of case that exposes deep cracks in how Wisconsin schools and courts handle adults in positions of trust who target children. State Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie), whose district includes parts of Kenosha County, and Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp) refused to let the Enwright scandal fade into another forgotten headline.
Nedweski authored Assembly Bill 677, while Sen. James – a former law-enforcement officer and the only active-duty police officer serving in the Wisconsin Legislature, and a member of the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board (CANPB) – carried the bill in the Senate.
Nedweski helped lead efforts around school board issues in Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) since 2020. She was vocal about parental rights, curriculum concerns, and transparency in schools. This activism boosted her profile and led to her successful runs for Kenosha County Board and then the Wisconsin State Assembly. James’s background in law enforcement includes work as a sensitive crimes’ investigator, giving him firsthand insight into how predators operate and why stronger laws were desperately needed.
The bill directly addressed the legal gaps that left prosecutors with only weak misdemeanor tools. It created Wisconsin’s first standalone criminal definition of grooming: a “course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts” intended to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for sexual purposes or to produce child sexual abuse material.
On March 6, 2026, Assembly Bill 677 (2025 Wisconsin Act 88) was signed into law. Act 88 carries real teeth: A base offense is a Class G felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. If the offender is in a position of trust or authority (i.e. a teacher, coach, etc.), it becomes a Class F felony punishable by up to 12 years and 6 months in prison and a $25,000 fine. Enhancements for victims with disabilities or multiple victims push penalties even higher, up to a Class D felony (25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine).
Convicted individuals are required to register as sex offenders with the Department of Corrections, and the law extends statute of limitations for prosecuting these offenses until the victim turns 45.
Nedweski repeatedly pointed to the Enwright case as Exhibit A: under the new statute, the same behavior could have meant at least 12.5 years behind bars instead of a short jail stint followed by early release.
“This is exactly why Act 88 is so necessary. Before we had a criminal definition of grooming, predators could hide behind gaps in the law and avoid full accountability for their actions,” Amanda Nedweski posted on her X account, March12, 2026.
The new law is paired with legislation Act 89, strengthening school staff training on professional boundaries and social media communication. Signed into law on the same day as Act 88, Wisconsin Senate Bill 673, (2025 Wisconsin Act 89), was authored by Senators Romaine Quinn (R-Birchwood), Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), and Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), and cosponsored by Representative Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie).
Signed into law on March 6th, it requires schools to establish clear policies and training regarding appropriate staff-student communication. Act 89 focuses on prevention by mandating clearer rules and training in schools.
By September 1st, every public school, private school, and independent charter school in Wisconsin must adopt a formal policy on appropriate communication between school employees/volunteers (when acting in their official capacity) and students. Beginning in the 2026–27 school year, schools must provide annual training to all employees (and volunteers) on identifying, preventing, and reporting grooming behaviors and recognizing and maintaining professional boundaries.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) must develop and provide this training at no cost to all schools. Schools may use DPI’s training or create their own equivalent training that meets the requirements.
These changes apply statewide to public, private, and charter schools. The goal is to create proactive safeguards so that warning signs (such as excessive personal messaging, emotional manipulation, or boundary-blurring contact) are spotted and addressed early before they escalate into criminal grooming as defined in Act 88.
The timing could not be more telling. Just weeks after the law took effect, prosecutors began using it aggressively. In late March, Eliav M. Goldman, a 29-year-old Madison Metropolitan School District teacher at Vel Phillips Memorial High School, was arrested and charged with grooming under the new law, along with causing mental harm to a child and sexual misconduct by school staff. He allegedly engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student. The criminal complaint states Goldman exchanged nearly 130,000 text messages with the student.
That case joined at least three other reported 2026 arrests of Wisconsin teachers or school staff for child-related sexual misconduct or abuse. A Madison elementary STEM teacher, David Fawcett, was arrested for child sexual exploitation and possession of child sexual abuse material involving online contact with a minor.
In Milwaukee, Bradley Tech High School tutor Antonio Barfield-Wilson was charged with second-degree sexual assault of a 14-year-old student. And Eau Claire North High School special education staff member Nadia M. Horn was arrested on multiple counts of sexual assault of a child by school staff after allegedly having inappropriate relationships with multiple 16-year-old students.
These early 2026 cases illustrate a troubling reality; the problem is not hypothetical. At least four documented instances of teachers or staff facing arrest or charges for grooming, assault, or inappropriate contact with minors have surfaced in just the first few months of the year. Due to the absence of a centralized public dashboard from the Department of Public Instruction, the full scope remains fragmented and underreported, but the pattern is clear.
The new grooming law changes the game. It allows interventionbefore physical assault occurs, giving prosecutors a “gold standard” tool, and sending a strong message that adults who exploit their authority over children will face felony consequences. It also pressures schools to improve training, reporting, and boundary policies so that warning signs, such as late-night messages, personal compliments via Snapchat, and emotional manipulation, will trigger swift action rather than being swept aside.
Kenosha County District Attorney, Xavier Solis, was elected to office November 2024 and sworn in Jan. 3, 2025, succeeding former DA Michael Graveley who held office during the arrest and charging of Enwright.
“The new anti-grooming bill will have a significant impact on these cases,” Solis said. “My office takes crimes against children very seriously and will work with our law enforcement partners to protect children in our community and hold offenders accountable.”
The Kenosha Unified School District’s earlier inaction reminds us that the laws alone are not enough; they must be paired with cultural change in schools. We need vigilant teachers and administrators, and zero tolerance for adults who blur lines with children. Families deserve better than discovering the grooming after thousands of deleted messages and years of damage.
Rep. Nedweski’s persistence, fueled by heartbreaking cases like Enwright’s has led to enhanced protections for children in Wisconsin.
Recent arrests under the new law suggest it is already working, but true success will be measured in a precipitous drop in the number of victims, faster interventions, and a clear message: grooming is no longer a misdemeanor, it’s serious felony with serious prison time.
Parents, educators, and lawmakers must now ensure the law is enforced rigorously and that school districts finally prioritize student safety over institutional defensiveness. The children in our classrooms deserve nothing less.
