Charges: Grantsburg Teacher Had Sex with Students at His Stillwater Home

County Attorney Pete Orput today announced his office has issued charges against Matthew Robert Koenen, 36, of Stillwater, with 2 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 3rd Degree. These charges stem from his role as a Grantsburg, Wis. High School teacher in 2012. The victims were students at the high school.

According to the complaint filed today, Koenen, in his role as a high school teacher, developed a relationship with several female students in person, on-line and by text which ultimately led to the sexual conduct with which he is charged. The conduct occurred in Stillwater.

The matter was investigated by the Stillwater Police Department. He faces maximum penalties of 15 years or $30,000 or both if convicted.

Orput stated, “This office will continue to take a leading role in condemning those in positions of authority from abusing that relationship and preying upon those too immature or needy to make good judgments and to resist. We will be there for these victims. Rest assured at that.” 

Update (3:50 p.m. Thursday): Stillwater police attempted to arrest Koenen at his home in Stillwater Thursday afternoon but did not find him there. The department issued a lengthy report about its investigation. 

The Stillwater Police Department investigation included executing a search warrant on July 16, 2013 at Koenen's Stillwater residence. Among seized items listed by police:

• Dell Inspiron laptop
• Lenovo laptop
• Winbook
• 1TB hard drive
• HP Pavilion computer tower
• Two 3-ring binders contining emails/phone logs
• Black agenda planner
• Bank statement
• Map
• Two T-Mobile cell phones belonging to suspect

Update (3:40 p.m. Thursday): Here is the narrative of the criminal complaint (edited to protect the identity of alleged victims). 

On June 24, 2013, Stillwater Police received information that the defendant, a former high school history teacher at Grantsburg High School in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, had engaged in sexual intercourse with [Alleged Victim 1], a juvenile student, at his Stillwater home ... The investigation revealed the following: In the spring of 2012, the defendant and his wife were both history teachers at Grantsburg High School. ...[T]he defendant started to communicate with [Alleged Victim 1] through telephone conversations, emails, and text messages. The defendant was a mentor and a confidant to [Alleged Victim 1]. [Alleged Victim 1] trusted the defendant and shared many personal thoughts and feelings with the defendant. The defendant used three different email addresses to communicate with [Alleged Victim 1] and had two cell phones that he hid from his wife. Forensic examination of the email accounts and cell phones revealed countless conversations between the defendant and [Alleged Victim 1], many of which were romantic in nature.

In August of 2012, the defendant invited [Alleged Victim 1] to his home ... in Stillwater. The defendant told [Alleged Victim 1] to not tell her parents where she was going. On August 7, 2012, [Alleged Victim 1] drove to the defendant's residence. When she arrived, the defendant invited her into his home. The defendant then put his child down for a nap. He then took [Alleged Victim 1] into his bedroom where he initiated sexual contact and ultimately had sexual intercourse with [Alleged Victim 1]. [Alleged Victim 1] was sixteen years old at the time. [Alleged Victim 1] described the interior of the home and exactly where the condoms were located in the nightstand. The defendant and [Alleged Victim 1] maintained contact after August 7, 2012, and engaged in sexual intercourse 3-4 times after that day. Their communications ended in approximately November or December of 2012. At that point, [Alleged Victim 1] realized that the relationship with the defendant was wrong, and she ended the relationship.

As officers were investigating the defendant's sexual relationship with [Alleged Victim 1] they learned that there were several other juvenile females that had been to the defendant's residence while his wife was away. In November 2013, Officer Olson spoke to [Alleged Victim 2] ... who reported the following: [Alleged Victim 2] was a student in the defendant's history class her sophomore year of high school (2011-2012). In May of 2012, the defendant addressed [Alleged Victim 2] about her slipping grades. [Alleged Victim 2]  then confided in the defendant her personal issues and concerns. The defendant gave [Alleged Victim 2] his personal cell phone number and told her to call him any time to talk. The defendant and [Alleged Victim 2] communicated regularly for weeks. At one point, the conversations became flirty and sexual in nature. The defendant ultimately ended up with two cell phones and three email accounts through which they communicated. The defendant acquired the second cell phone as his wife was becoming suspicious of his communications on his primary cell phone. In August of 2012, the defendant invited [Alleged Victim 2]  to his home ... in Stillwater. On August 28, 2012, [Alleged Victim 2] drove to the defendant's residence where the defendant initiated sexual contact that resulted in sexual intercourse. [Alleged Victim 2] was sixteen years old. [Alleged Victim 2] described the interior of the defendant's home and exactly where the condoms were located in his nightstand. The relationship continued and the defendant had intercourse with [Alleged Victim 2] on multiple occasions in his home. The last time the defendant had intercourse with [Alleged Victim 2] was in May of 2013. Emails recovered from the defendant's email accounts revealed countless conversations between [Alleged Victim 2] and the defendant, during this time frame. In May of 2013, the defendant was being investigated for the alleged inappropriate relationship with [Alleged Victim 2], and an email recovered written by the defendant to [Alleged Victim 2] on May 20, 2013, read, "important question, tell me what you told the cops when questioned about dirty flirty messages." [Alleged Victim 2] continued to text and email the defendant through June or July of 2013, but the defendant stopped responding. In July of 2013, the defendant was under a full investigation by the Stillwater police department. This coincides with the defendant's failure to respond to [Alleged Victim 2]'s attempts to communicate.

Back in 2012, there had been reports to Grantsburg High School that the defendant had been engaging in an inappropriate relationship with [Alleged Victim 2] in 2012. [Alleged Victim 2] initially denied the nature of the relationship to protect the defendant, however, the defendant admitted to school authorities that he had exchanged text messages of a personal nature with [Alleged Victim 2]. The defendant was asked to resign from his position.

The investigation revealed that at least two other juvenile female students had been at the defendant's home in Stillwater while the defendant's wife was away. Furthermore, a search of the defendant's home corroborated [Alleged Victim 2] and [Alleged Victim 1]'s description of the layout of the home and the location of various items, including the condoms the defendant used while having intercourse. The two cell phones and computers were also seized.