Former teacher at St. Matthias Church accused of sexual assault; 'We are praying for all of those involved'

Kevin Buelow

MILWAUKEE -- A former teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a 4th grade student in 2012 while he gave her private tutoring lessons. Prosecutors say it happened in a church basement.

The former 4th grade student is accusing Kevin Buelow, 45, of molesting her on multiple occasions. He was her tutor in the summer of 2012. Buelow was at St. Matthias from 2001 to 2012. Buelow now faces a charge of first degree child sexual assault.

The West Allis man is on administration leave from his current job at Holy Apostles in New Berlin. He has been there since 2013. Letters sent to parents and parishioners inform them of the allegations.

"Of course, we are praying for all of those involved. As a parent myself, I found it was the most important thing to get that message out," said Amy Grau, Communications Director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

St. Matthias Parish School

The letter also says Buelow went through all the necessary procedures before being hired.

"Unfortunately, even with background checks, it can't always guarantee if someone is going to meet our ethical and moral expectations," Grau said.

The former student is also alleging Buelow touched his own newborn.

During his initial court appearance on Friday, Aug. 24, Buelow's attorney argued against that.

"(The girl) was not even born at the time that this alleged incident occurred," Buelow's attorney said.

Kevin Buelow

Buelow already paid a $5,000 bail. Prosecutors wanted a higher bond. The request was denied. However, prosecutors were granted their request for Buelow to have no unsupervised contact with any child under age 18.

"Obviously, he's innocent until proven guilty. But when I look at the allegations in this complaint, I can't say that what the state is requesting is unreasonable," said the court commissioner.

This is the only charge against Buelow, but court documents indicate other former students have disclosed inappropriate touching by the suspect. School officials are encouraging anyone with information that could help investigators to contact the authorities.