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A plea hearing has been scheduled to avoid a jury trial in the case against 40-year-old Bryan Neuswanger, the Hayward-area man charged with a dozen felony charges accusing him of approaching several young girls and exposing them to explicit sexual photos and making lewd comments last fall and the year prior in and around Grantsburg, including outside the middle school.

Neuswanger is slated to appear before Burnett County Circuit Court Judge Melissia Mogen on Oct. 7 for a pela hearing, after negotiations appear to have led him to agree to plead guilty to three felony charges of Exposing a Child to Harmful Materials; Exposing Himself to a Child and felony Causing a Child to View Sexual Activity. All other charges would then be dismissed and read in for sentencing consideration by Judge Mogen.

However, even with the dismissal of nine other felony charges, Neuswanger could still face the potential of being sentenced to up to 13 years in state prison and up to/or including $30,000 in fines.

Terms of a recommended sentence would be revealed at the oct. 7 plea hearing, after a  pre-sentence investigation is completed and filed, with other factors to be considered.

Neuswanger was first charged last October for incidents that were alleged to have taken place at three different Grantsburg locations at different times, including outside the Grantsburg Middle School last fall, and also in August of 2020.

At the time of the incidents, Neuswanger was a teacher at a virtual school in Sawyer County.  He is no longer an employee at the school.

The criminal complaint detailed the three incidents, including two where he is alleged to have shown underage females sexually explicit images on his phone, and also where he was behind an incident in downtown Grantsburg the year prior, where he is alleged to have made lewd and suggestive comments to a young woman as she sat in a car.

All told, Neuswanger was facing a total of 13 charges, including twelve felonies, ranging from exposing a child to harmful material (4), causing a child under age 13 to view sexual activity (2), exposing genitals (4), exposing a child over age 13 to sexual activity (2) and one misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. 

He is currently free on a $1,500 cash bond.

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