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Madison priest accused of child sex crimes faced a previous complaint in 2021
Mary Spicuzza
Andrew J. Showers, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Madison who is now charged with child sex crimes, faced a previous complaint about his conduct four years ago.
Prosecutors charged Showers Aug. 27 with attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, attempted child enticement and attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. The criminal complaint against Showers, 37, says he sent sexually explicit online messages and traveled to Waupaca County to meet someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to have sex with her, unaware he was actually corresponding with a Clintonville police officer.
The Diocese of Madison said it learned of the arrest Aug. 25 and restricted Showers from ministry while the investigation is ongoing. The diocese initially said it had not previously received any allegations of misconduct connected to Showers, who was ordained in 2017.
But the diocese then acknowledged on Aug. 27 that Showers had been the subject of a previous complaint.
"I need to share with you that an ongoing review of diocesan files, email messages, and phone records revealed that a complaint about Fr. Showers was made to the diocese by a parent in December 2021," Madison Bishop Donald J. Hying wrote in a letter to members of the diocese. "The parent expressed concern about pastoral questions which were asked of a male middle-school child during the Sacrament of Confession."
A Lodi Police Department incident report shows a father reported Showers for "inappropriate questions the priest asked his son during confession" at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Lodi.
The father said that, during confession, Showers began to ask his son "about masturbation and if he was viewing pornography," and that "his son was very uncomfortable about this and reported it" immediately after leaving the church.
The father also told Lodi police that he had contacted the church and diocese officials, who "explained that many times the Priest will prompt persons during confession about sins that are natural for that age group, and they believed this is what Rev. Showers had done."
Lodi police determined "the incident did not seem to rise to the level of a criminal act but appeared to be more a question of appropriateness."
The incident report said that police would wait to see what the church investigation revealed before interviewing Showers.
Hying's letter noted that police determined "the incident did not rise to the level of a criminal act."
"I apologize that this parental complaint was not included in our initial communication," he wrote.
Hying later added, "I continue to ask for your prayers for everyone involved in this situation."
The Diocese of Madison said allegations of sexual misconduct always should be brought to law enforcement, and allegations involving priests, deacons or other church personnel should also be reported to the diocese's sexual misconduct question and reporting line, at 608-821-3162, regardless of when they are said to have occurred.
Showers had the following assignments, according to the diocese:
- Director of diocesan office of worship, 2024 to present.
- Parochial vicar for a grouping known as Pastorate 22 or Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, which collectively includes two churches, St. Raphael and Good Shepherd, and one school, St. James, all in Madison, 2023 to present.
- Priest in residence at All Saints in Berlin and Our Lady of the Lake in Green Lake, 2022 to 2023.
- Provided Spanish Mass assistance at St. John the Baptist in Waunakee, 2022.
- Pastor of St. Stephen in Clinton, 2020 to 2022.
- Parochial vicar for St. Paul's Catholic Student Center, which serves UW-Madison students, 2018 to 2020.
- Parochial vicar of St. Cecilia in Wisconsin Dells, summer of 2017.
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Registered sex offender pleads not guilty to multiple charges
Milana Doné
RACINE — A Racine man pleaded not guilty Thursday in connection to accusations of noncompliance with sex offender requirements and sexually assaulting a minor.
Paul Shelton, 44, faces one count of failing to update information as a sex offender, one count of registered sex offender intentionally photograph a minor without consent, one count of knowingly failing to notify school of sex offender status and three counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
Shelton also is charged with one count of causing mental harm to child, one count of exposing genitals to a child, one count of intentionally contribute to delinquency, one count of expose child to harmful material, one count of repeated sexual assault of same child and one count of incest with child by stepparent.
The bail jumping and knowingly failing to notify school of sex offender status charges are misdemeanors. The others are felonies.
According to a criminal complaint, Shelton reportedly filmed children at a local school without parental consent on multiple occasions.
Racine County Sheriff’s Office investigators also found a Facebook account that Shelton reportedly claimed as his own. According to the complaint, Shelton did not report the account to the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry Program, and he reportedly said he was unaware that he needed to.
Additionally, the complaint alleges Shelton sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl on multiple occasions from 2017-22.
During this time, the complaint states, Shelton and the girl’s mother also allegedly provided the girl with drugs.
Shelton was charged alongside his wife, 43-year-old Dana Kozeluh, who is facing four charges related to failing to protect a child from harm.
The charges include failure to act in sexual assault of a child, exposing a child to harmful material as a party to a crime, felony intent to contribute to the delinquency of a child as a party to a crime and causing mental harm to a child.
The complaint alleges Kozeluh did not interfere to stop Shelton during multiple occasions where he allegedly sexually assaulted a child between 2017-22.
Kozeluh pleaded not guilty on June 18.
Shelton and Kozeluh are each scheduled for a status conference in October.
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Burlington man pleads not guilty in child sexual assault case
Milana Doné
RACINE — A Burlington man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in connection with child sexual assault accusations.
Jesus Osorio, 36, faces one count of first degree child sexual assault with the use/threat of force/violence.
The maximum sentence upon conviction is a term of imprisonment up to 60 years.
According to a criminal complaint, the Burlington Police Department began investigating after receiving a report of an alleged sexual assault involving Osorio and a teenage girl.
The girl alleged Osorio assaulted her when she was at his residence.
According to the complaint, Osorio told investigators with the Burlington and Lake Geneva police departments the girl “initiated the encounter.”
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59-year-old man sentenced to prison for child pornography possession
Milana Doné
RACINE — A Racine man was sentenced Monday in connection to an August 2024 search that revealed files containing child pornography.
Mark Temby, 59, faced 15 counts of child pornography possession. He was found guilty of three counts after pleading guilty June 17. The remaining 12 counts were dismissed but read into the court record.
Temby was sentenced to three years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision. He also must register and comply with the sex offender registry.
According to previous Journal Times reports, the investigation into Temby began in February 2019 when the Racine Police Department received a cyber tip associated with a residence in the 1500 block of Flett Avenue.
Investigators with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children unit and agents with the state Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation searched the home Aug. 23, 2024, based on an additional three cyber tips received in 2023 and 2024.