A Wisconsin school official who allegedly forced young girls to undress in a bathroom before strip-searching them because she was looking for vaping devices now faces a lengthy prison sentence and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

The defendant has been named as Kelly Casper, 51, who until recently was a superintendent on the board of the Suring School District, which is located in the village of Suring, which boasts a population of just 500 souls, in Oconto County, in the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin.

The authorities initially declined to prosecute, stating that no laws had been broken, but after an outcry, she was then given the boot after the Suring school board voted unanimously to place her on paid, indefinite administrative leave.

She has now been charged with six counts of false imprisonment, which are felonies, over the incident which allegedly took place on Tuesday, 18th January 2022, according to Oconto County District Attorney Edward Burke Jr.

Court documents from the Oconto County Sheriff’s Department dated Monday, 28th February, state that the defendant knowingly subjected six high school girls to false imprisonment.

The court documents also reveal that the police were first alerted to the situation on Wednesday, 2nd February, after being contacted by parents of the alleged victims.

The six girls were accused by Casper of vaping in the school bathrooms. All six stated that the superintendent allegedly forced them to strip down to their underwear before making them lift their bras, supposedly to ascertain whether or not they were hiding vaping equipment.

The court documents also reveal that sexual assault advocates and other investigators have become involved in the case, and an excerpt detailing the allegations reads: “Superintendent Casper then told PUPIL 1 to take off her pants. PUPIL 1 claimed she did not feel ‘comfortable’ taking of her pants, which were actually sports leggings so she told Superintendent Casper she was not wearing any underwear.

“PUPIL 1 stated she told Superintendent Casper she did not have any underwear on because she did not want to take her leggings off in front of her and the nurse. PUPIL 1 claimed she has ‘PTSD’ from past trauma in her life and ‘panics’ when someone tells her to take her clothes off. Superintendent Casper told her ‘okay’ then she was going to ‘pat her down’.

“PUPIL 1 stated she thought Superintendent Casper was going to just pat her down but she started at the waist band of her leggings and slid her hand down her leg to her knee/calf area. PUPIL 1 stated Superintendent Casper never went inside her pants including checking her waist band. PUPIL 1 stated Superintendent Casper then walked behind her and placed her hands on her waist just below the waist band on her leggings then she slid her hand down ‘over her butt’ then continued down to the back part of her leg by her knee.

“PUPIL 1 then stated while Superintendent Casper was checking her legs the first time she ‘cupped her hand around her thighs’. PUPIL 1 stated Superintendent Casper never moved her hands ‘upward’ towards her private areas just downward along her thighs.” (sic)

The high school pupil is also quoted in the court documents as saying that she went to put her shirt, which she had allegedly been forced to remove, back on, but when she bent over to get her shoes, an empty vaping cartridge fell out of her sports bra and landed in front of her.

She said that all she could think was “sh*t”. She was then taken to the principal’s office and given detention in the school’s “time out room” for the rest of the day.

The second of the six pupils also gave a similar statement to the police. The court documents read: “Ms. Casper told her to remove her boots, pants, and shirt and place the items on the floor. At this point PUPIL 2 only had her sports bra and underwear on. Ms. Casper instructed PUPIL 2 to ‘lift the front of her sports bra and pull it away from her body’. PUPIL 2 claimed she lifted her sports up just below her nipples. Ms. Casper told her to pull her sports bra away from her body. PUPIL 2 followed Ms. Casper’s direction and pulled her sports bra ‘1 to 2 inches away from her breast’. While PUPIL 2’s sports bra was pulled away from her body Ms. Casper bent down and looked up into her bra but there was nothing there.”

The third pupil also spoke to the police, and the court documents read: “She stated to [Police] Deputy Ruiz that Mr. Casper then told her to walk in the bathroom and remove all her clothes other than her underwear. She stated to Deputy Ruiz that she was too scared to say no, because she thought she was going to get in trouble. She stated that she walked in the bathroom and removed her shorts and T-Shirt.

“She was then standing there in her panties and bra only. She stated that Ms. Casper was standing in front of her, and the Nurse was standing to the side by the door. Ms. Casper then told her to lift her bra, which she did. She stated that her breasts were exposed to Ms. Casper at that time. Ms. Casper then walked behind her and told her to lift the back of her Bra. Ms. Casper then told her to put her clothes back on, and to go into one of the detention rooms where she was kept for the rest of the day.”

Officials had initially declined to charge Casper, concluding that there had been no strip-searches and that the law had therefore not been broken. But the District Attorney explained that the initial investigation had focused on the alleged search of the students instead of their confinement.

The District Attorney said: “Upon their review, the state found that Casper lacked legal authority to confine the students in a small restroom in the school complex.

“The state also found that the students did not consent to being confined, nor were they given the opportunity to leave or contact their parents.”

Suring parent Tabitha School said at the time the board decided to suspend Casper: “We would fight for any single kid that had to go through this, because it’s wrong.”

The names and ages of the schoolgirls have not been released.

Casper has now been charged with six counts of false imprisonment. If convicted, Casper could face a maximum penalty of six years in prison on each count. She also faces a fine of up to USD 10,000 (GBP 7,540) on each count.

The first court date has been set for 23rd March. The investigation is ongoing.