OLR: Former Sheboygan lawyer drove off after kids fell out of car

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A former Sheboygan attorney is faced with a three-year license suspension after two of his kids fell out of his car while he was driving high on cough medication.

A complaint from the Office of Lawyer Regulation says Robert Horsch was driving with five of his kids and didn’t secure his 3-year-old and his 22-month-old into their car seats. The children fell out of the van’s rear doors without Horsch knowing, and he kept driving. Other drivers saw what happened and called 911. The children were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Officers identified the children at the hospital and went to Horsch’s home. The complaint said Horsch refused field sobriety tests but did submit to a breathalyzer. The officers got a warrant for a blood test, and the complaint said the results found “an exceedingly high level” of dextromethophan, used in cough medicine, in Horsch’s system.

In February, Horsch pleaded guilty to a felony count of neglecting a child resulting in great bodily harm and a felony OWI with a passenger under the age of 16. A judge sentenced him to three years and six months in prison and five years of extended supervision. He’s serving his sentence in the Jackson Correctional Institution in Black River Falls.

Horsch’s license had been suspended since June 2014 for failing to pay bar dues, certify trust information and comply with CLE requirements. A suspension for professional misconduct was added in December 2017, after Horsch failed to report two drunk-driving convictions.