Former longtime Ocosta School District teacher and coach Wade Eric Iseminger recently pleaded guilty to a Class C felony, assault in the third degree and on Friday was sentenced to 90 days in jail, five-year “banishment” from the city of Westport, and 12 months community custody. He was also issued five-year non-contact orders for more than a dozen alleged victims. He will also have to pay restitution for counseling and therapy for those victims. It is the understanding of the Grays Harbor County prosecutor’s office that Iseminger would no longer be permitted to teach in Washington State on the basis of this conviction. However, Iseminger will not have to register as a sex offender because he did not plead guilty to any sexual offenses.

“There were good reasons for that to be the final resolution, however, based on the actions, I am very disappointed this wasn’t handled properly in the beginning,” said Daniel Crawford, Criminal Chief Deputy Prosecutor for Grays Harbor County. “The case was charged initially incorrectly, there were a lot of errors in the charging documents, that would’ve been an issue that had to have been corrected.”

According to Crawford, 90 days was the maximum allowable sentence in this case due to the point system put in place by the Sentencing Reform Act that governs crimes committed after July 1, 1984.

Iseminger, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and wearing a smirk on his face, was led into Superior Court Judge Katherine L. Svoboda’s courtroom by Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s deputies. The gallery was roughly two-thirds full, with victims and their families and their supporters on one side, and Iseminger’s supporters on the other.

Crawford, who joined the Grays Harbor County prosecutor’s office in August 2024 and was assigned to the case late in the year, presented 14 speakers who consisted of victims, family members and witnesses who described alleged sexual, physical, psychological and emotional abuse of students aged 9–14 years old by Iseminger. Several said they had also witnessed violent behavior that included the throwing of and breaking of classroom objects.

“I’m very disappointed in how a lot of people let these kids down,” Crawford said. “There’s really no excuse for that.”

Iseminger, who was arrested on April 21, 2023, on charges of second-degree child molestation, was stoic as each person read or spoke. He was admonished by Judge Svoboda for conferring with his attorneys Ruth Rivas and Luke Laughlin during the first statement, during which the speaker said Iseminger had touched her “in a way only a lover should,” and that Iseminger molested her “on a daily basis.”

Almost every speaker described recurring nightmares, symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, distrust of family and friends (especially men), inability to sleep and/or eat, fear and some even indicated suicidal ideation. Speakers described an environment of bullying, intimidation and inappropriate touching. They spoke of the school and of the justice system, most notably the Grays Harbor County prosecutor’s office, failing them and their children. They asked, begged, for the maximum allowable sentence, and that Iseminger be required to register as a sex offender.

One victim who had the courage to speak in court said 6th grade at Ocosta Elementary was the worst year of their life and that “life is a struggle, I think about him all the time.” Another former student described temper tantrums and property destruction.

“It’s always difficult to put children on the stand, and some of them may not want to, some of the parents may not let them,” Crawford said. “Ultimately the elected prosecutor (Norma Tillotson) made a decision, while conferring with her chiefs and the sheriff’s office, a decision was made because the ultimate goal based on how everything transpired up to this date was for a felony conviction that would hopefully make it to where Mr. Iseminger can never teach again, and the no-contact orders for each person who was a victim in the initial discovery reports.”

One parent described Iseminger’s plea deal, which was offered by the defense, as a “miscarriage of justice” and that Iseminger was “utterly evil” and had stolen his child’s “innocence and childhood.” Another said this experience has “changed them forever,” and that it’s “egregious that there is no justice, 90 days is a slap on the wrist.” Yet another said the victims were “promised their bravery would be rewarded, my child suffered greatly, our family will never be the same,” and added that complaints lodged with the Ocosta School District went unheard.

As of Friday, Iseminger was still listed on the Ocosta School District’s website; his name was removed by Monday. According to Crawford, with time served and possible time off for good behavior Iseminger could be released sometime between mid-April and early May. Iseminger has pledged to move away from the Grays Harbor area upon his release. His wife, Katie, is listed as an Alternative Learning Environment teacher for Ocosta Junior and Senior High School. During the victim statements, accusations of abuse were lobbed at her as well.

When asked for comment, Ocosta School District Superintendent Heather Sweet said, “Due to pending litigation, the Ocosta School District has no comment.” The District’s attorney, Mick McFarland, did not return a phone call from The Daily World requesting comment by press time.

Parent Kimberly Stoll-French said that she exchanged emails with school officials about Isemigner in 2022. She sent an email to Dr. Cindy Risher (then-elementary school principal) regarding an outburst on April 21, 2022. Stoll-French said she also submitted a Safe Schools report to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), which went unanswered. She learned that notifications from OSPI had been erroneously delivered to Sweet’s email “spam” folder. Stoll-French met with Risher’s successor Holly Samuelson on Aug. 3, 2022, and detailed alleged inappropriate behavior and asked for an update via email on Aug. 30, 2022. Samuelson responded via email the next day that she hadn’t had a chance to speak with Iseminger. Stoll-French said she met with Samuelson on Sept. 1 and was informed the matter had been resolved.

A civil suit was filed Nov. 27, 2023, against the Ocosta School District for the district’s actions concerning Iseminger’s alleged sexual harassment and misconduct over several years with 11 former students or guardians named as plaintiffs.

During Judge Svoboda’s summation at the end of the hearing, Jeffrey Campiche, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the civil case, was ordered removed for contempt by the judge for “wagging his finger” and continuing to interrupt.

Iseminger’s defense team, consisting of attorneys Luke Laughlin and Ruth Rivas issued the following statement:

“First, it’s important to note that our client steadfastly maintains his innocence and vehemently denies the allegations. Mr. Iseminger entered a plea which did not require him to admit guilt to any criminal act. The defense team did an extremely thorough investigation into the allegations and feel confident that, should this case have proceeded to trial, Mr. Iseminger’s chances of prevailing were high. This case reflected mere incidental contact between a teacher and students that lacked any evidence of sexual motivation or intent (for instance, some of the charges were related to allegations of physical contact during basketball drills), and there were material credibility issues leading the State to agree to a non-sex plea. Defense’s investigation revealed just as many witnesses who saw nothing inappropriate and administrators who characterized the allegations as, at worst, boundary invasions, not crimes. Throughout the duration of this case, Mr. Iseminger has maintained strong support from his family, fellow teachers, and community members who know him well, and that’s a testament to who he is as a person. Ultimately, this case was sensationalized by the rumor mill far beyond the bounds of logic or the law. Mr. Iseminger was targeted due to some challenges managing his Asperger’s Syndrome, and parental fear was capitalized upon by attorneys seeking a payday, as evidenced by the civil suit filed days after the criminal charges. Wade Iseminger has been, and remains, a decorated teacher and dedicated civil servant.”

During her summation, Judge Svoboda said, “There is nothing I can do to make this better.”

“I’m embarrassed, I really am, I think it was a total injustice to these children, some young ladies no, they’ve struggled with this for many years,” said the parent of one of the victims who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t think the prosecutor’s office wanted to finish the job. Our last prosecutor was confident that he was going to go to trial, we would win and (Iseminger) would possibly see life in prison. This has been happening for decades. He was able to get away with it because he was an asset to the school. It wasn’t a secret he was loud and angry and aggressive. I’ve been to several school board meetings, you don’t get a response. They listen to you speak, you don’t get any call back, you don’t get any notification that anything’s done. When you report something to school administrators, they don’t give you any information, they say that teachers’ and students’ files are confidential. We never get any information. This started coming around because Holly Samuelson started an investigation.”

That parent went on to say that three prosecutors and two judges have worked on this case and that mediation for individual plaintiffs in the civil suit is set to begin in May. If mediation fails, preliminary hearings will begin in July.

“I don’t like the judge’s words because from the beginning she has said we weren’t going to continue to delay this case, this is the last extension and then we saw two more after that,” the parent said. “She says the defense is given their right to do the investigation that they need, and it’s about the defense, the defense, the defense, well, what about all these victims?”

Material from Michael S. Lockett’s Nov. 29, 2023, May 8, 2023, and April 24, 2023, stories was used for this article.

Wade Eric Iseminger chats with one of his defense attorneys, Luke Laughlin.