Former Suring substitute teacher and Village Board member pleads guilty to federal child sex abuse charges
SURING – A 37-year-old former substitute teacher and Village Board member pleaded guilty to federal child sexual abuse charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a news release Friday.
John Fredenburgh of Suring pleaded guilty to a charge of traveling between states with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and a charge of using a computer to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, the news release said.
He may face between 10 and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 14 by U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, the DOJ said.
A second traveling between states, which was included in the indictment issued in June, was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to a spokesman for the U.S. District Attorney's Office.
The three charges related to incidents that occurred in October 2020 and in January.
Fredenburgh was charged in March in Oconto County Circuit Court with two dozen charges relating to the sexual assault of a girl over a period of more than four years, beginning when she was 12 years old.
After those charges were reported, a second victim came forward, leading to a charge of second-degree sexual assault of a child over an incident with a 14-year-old girl in 2008.
In April, he pleaded not guilty to all the state charges.
At that time of his arrest on Feb. 28 by the Oconto County Sheriff's Office, Fredenburgh was a member of the Suring Village Board, elected the previous April. His resignation was accepted by the board at their May meeting.
Fredenburgh had also worked as a substitute teacher for the Suring School District from Dec. 18, 2020, to Feb. 24, according to the criminal complaint. He’d also served two years as a parent volunteer for the school’s running club, which prepares students in grades three through eight for the Bellin Run.
According to the news release, the federal case was investigated by the Oconto County District Attorney's Office, the Marinette County Sheriff's Office, the Menominee County Sheriff's Office and the Menominee (Mich.) Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was brought to court as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Former Suring substitute teacher pleads guilty to child sex abuse charges