MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee teacher is charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child, accused of inappropriately touching a student earlier in October.
Milwaukee police were called to Rocketship Transformation Prep near 68th and Silver Spring on Oct. 11. There, it was reported that a 5-year-old student had been sexually assaulted by a teacher. That teacher, a criminal complaint states, was identified as 42-year-old Benjamin Anderson.
The victim told their mother, per the complaint, that “Mr. Ben” taught them how to perform an inappropriate act the week prior to the incident being reported, between Oct. 4 and Oct. 7. The complaint states the teacher “advised” the victim that they shouldn’t tell because then the victim “would not get any candy.” The victim told police that Anderson’s actions made them mad, and that it happened while other kids were in “Miss Kelly’s class.”
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The school’s principal identified “Mr. Ben” as Anderson. The complaint states Anderson was on supervision through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for leaving/storing a gun near a child, and his booking photo also matched the description of “Mr. Ben.”
In an interview with the police, the complaint states Anderson said he knew the victim but denied the actions. He said the two of them were never alone in the classroom, and that he did not know a “Miss Kelly” – adding there were no teachers at the school named “Miss Kelly.”
In a letter to families obtained by FOX6 News, the school’s executive director said Anderson was “immediately placed on leave and he has not returned to campus” since the allegations became known to the school on Oct. 12. The statement continued to say Anderson’s misdemeanor conviction “should have disqualified him from employment” at the school. An audit of other staff members found no other such cases, the statement said.
Court records show Anderson made his initial court appearance on Oct. 19 and had cash bond set at $10,000. He is due back in court on Oct. 28
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