Crime & Safety
Retired Oswego Teacher Pleads Guilty in Wisconsin
Donald McDowell taught at Traughber and Thompson junior highs and was charged with second-degree sexual assault, one count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and two counts of possession of child pornography.
A retired Thompson Junior High teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of second-degree sexual assault of a child, according to Wisconsin court documents.
Three other charges against Donald P. McDowell, 65, of the 500 block of Danbury Drive in Oswego, were dismissed in Waukesha County Circuit Court in Wisconsin on Tuesday. He had also been charged with one count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and two counts of possession of child pornography.
According to a criminal complaint, a Waukesha Police Department detective was working undercover as a 14-year-old girl in an Internet chat room on June 1 when he made contact with McDowell. McDowell asked for pictures of the girl, which the detective sent him. McDowell then sent pictures back, police said.
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The two talked again on June 3 and 4 and eventually agreed to meet at a Waukesha hotel to have sex and film it. McDowell asked if the girl was a police officer, but the detective assured him he wasn’t.
McDowell made reservations at the hotel, and showed up Tuesday, police said. He checked in and then left, but was pulled over shortly afterward by police. Inside his car were found condoms, Viagra pills, sexual paraphernalia, and a laptop computer which contained images of child pornography, police said.
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McDowell told police he was supposed to meet with a man named Tim, and had arranged to have sex with his daughter. He said he thought about cancelling the rendezvous on the ride, and didn’t plan to have sex with the girl, but continued to Waukesha so he could see what kind of man Tim was, according to police.
McDowell told police that he is a retired junior high school math teacher. Oswego School District officials confirmed that McDowell taught at Traughber Junior High from 1970 to 1977, and transferred to Thompson when it was built in 1977. He worked there until the 2002-2003 school year, and also coached basketball and volleyball. He went by D. Paul McDowell, officials said.
McDowell's sentencing hearing is at 3 p.m. Jan. 7.
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