Ex-Wisconsin teacher to pleads guilty to filming students

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former Wisconsin high school teacher accused of secretly videotaping undressed students during field trips in Wisconsin and Minnesota pleaded guilty in federal court Monday, under a plea deal with prosecutors.

David M. Kruchten, 39, of Cottage Grove, faces six to 20 years in prison, after pleading guilty to two federal charges in Wisconsin, the State Journal reported. Sentencing has been set for Oct. 22.

In Minnesota, Kruchten still faces three counts of interfering with the privacy of a minor. No court dates have been scheduled in that case.

Kruchten told U.S. District Judge James Peterson and a courtroom packed with former and present students and parents that he positioned the cameras in the bathrooms of students’ hotel rooms “just out of curiosity to see what was going on, what they were doing.”

He said he wanted to see students undressed, and had been setting up cameras compulsively.

Kruchten was charged last year with multiple counts of attempting to produce child pornography. He resigned from his teaching job in February 2020.

Kruchten’s attorney, federal defender Joseph Bugni, said he believed Kruchten would be convicted if the case went to a jury because of the way that the cameras were set.