The Outagamie County Court Commissioner Babbles

A teacher, Daniel Callan, at St. Bernadette Elementary School in Appleton, WI was charged with first‑degree sexual assault of child and more on 7 May, 2008.

Callan appeared before the Outagamie County, WI Court Commissioner, Brian Figy, who set himself up as judge and juror at the bail hearing. Figy stated that, “The defendant is a danger to the public and in particular a danger to children.” So far the only thing he had to formulate such an opinion is the police complaint, and complaints are exaggerated too often.

The problem is that Figy was not hearing the case or determining its worth beyond a very rudimentary level and low threshold. This is the beginning of a series of steps in the court procedure, and the burden on the State is very low. When Figy makes such statements during a hearing, he is guilty of undermining the defendant and poisoning a potential jury pool. Outagamie County has a history of choosing inept court commissioners.

Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Sargent argued that Callan was “a threat to every child in the Valley.” Sargent went on to copy the word grooming that is a favorite code word (along with patriarch) used by prosecutors to make pretend evidence. The charge is based on the complaint of one child (or his parents).

Sex case infections spread through the various county law systems. So grooming was claimed by a Fond du Lac County prosecutor in recent charges and the copycat nature of sex cases reveals the same word. And, each county in Wisconsin seems to be in a contest to have the greatest sex crime or the most sex crimes.

I’m not privy to the events that led to charges. But, there appears to be no history of this kind of behavior by Callan. He has taught in several local schools with no complaints. He has been involved with youths in other settings with no complaints.

The standard procedure of trolling for more victims has, so far, not been successful, and whether that will produce reliable victims was not a consideration for Commissioner Figy’s rant. His excessive statement could trigger false complaints.

I suspect that if the complaint by one student is false, the Outagamie County legal system will have too much invested in their hyperbole to drop charges.

None‑the‑less, the behavior of the Outagamie County Court Commissioner demonstrates a reckless lack of professional competence that is far too common.