Daniel Acker

UPDATE, February 5, 2010: Ex-swim coach sentenced to 20 years on sex abuse charge
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Police Friday released the following photos of Daniel Acker through the years he is suspected of assaulting children.
What amazes me about the case of Daniel Acker is that no one, not a single victim, came forward shortly after Acker committed his crimes.

In Acker's string of alleged assaults spanning well over 30 years, not one boy was willing to accuse Acker at the time.

What a horrible burden they've carried, some for decades! It's very sad.

And because Acker wasn't accused, he just kept on doing what he was doing -- for over 30 years!

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A 61-year-old man who works as a part-time aquatics program coordinator for the West Allis-West Milwaukee Recreation Department was in jail Thursday, suspected of sexually assaulting young boys for more than 30 years, authorities said.

Daniel Acker of Waukesha was arrested Monday during a swim practice at West Milwaukee Middle School, said Deputy Inspector Bradley Wentlandt of the Greenfield Police Department. Acker is suspected of assaulting boys between the ages of 7 and 15 from the 1970s to 2008, police said.

Acker is suspected in hundreds of assaults involving dozens of children over the years, police said. Some of the assaults are alleged to have occurred in Greenfield.

Acker has been placed on leave by the recreation department and is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail pending charges.

The recreation department is run by the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District, Superintendent Kurt Wachholz said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Wachholz said the district reported to the Greenfield Police Department on Monday a complaint from a citizen alleging criminal conduct by the part-time employee that occurred many years ago in Greenfield.

Wentlandt said police received a tip Monday morning that led them to four male victims, now all in their 40s. One of the men alleged that Acker assaulted him at least 100 times, Wentlandt said.

Police then spoke with a 19-year-old man who told investigators that he and Acker started having sex when the man was 15 or 16, Wentlandt said. The man told police that he and Acker are still in a sexual relationship, Wentlandt said.

Police are seeking charges in connection with the 19-year-old man's allegations, but investigators hope other victims come forward as the case evolves, Wentlandt said.

"We know there are other victims out there," he said.

Acker has provided police with a confession in relation to the allegations, Wentlandt said.

It must have been very difficult for the person to go to the police, but probably beneficial for the individual's mental health in the long run.

In the case of the 19-year-old, he has had an ongoing sexual relationship with Acker for years. Why? Acker is old enough to be his grandfather.

It appears that Acker had no intention of stopping his pursuit of boys.

This is all so creepy.

Acker has spent most of his adult life assaulting boys.

...Wentlandt said his department has assigned 11 people to the case this week, working at least 18 hours a day. So far, between 25 and 50 suspected victims have been interviewed, many of whom don't want to be involved in allegations.

"Most of these people are currently in their 40s, and they've held this secret for 30 years," Wentlandt said.

FOX 6 News reports that some victims are not cooperating. I can understand that. They've kept the secret for decades. Why dredge it up now, so long after they were victimized?

I do give credit to those willing to cooperate in the investigation.

They are preventing others from becoming victims of Acker, and they also are seeing to it that justice is served in the name of all Acker's past victims.
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Read the criminal complaint