A federal judge on April 28 sentenced former Sun Prairie Area School District dean of students Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier to 18 years in prison plus 25 years of supervised release for producing child pornography.
Gilkey-Meisegeier, 31, pleaded guilty Feb. 6, according to the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Wisconsin.
“Make no mistake, Gilkey-Meisegeier is a predator,” said U.S. Attorney Chadwick Elgersma in a news release. “He used his position as the Dean of Students [at Sun Prairie West High School] to target, groom, and exploit students in his care.”
In the news release about the sentencing, Elgersma’s office said two individuals complained to the Sun Prairie Area School District in spring 2023 about Gilkey-Meisegeier’s behavior.
In April 2025, Gilkey-Meisegeier denied he was having an inappropriate relationship with a student after a third person submitted an anonymous tip to the district.
After learning in 2025 that Gilkey-Meisegeier may have solicited child pornography from a student, Sun Prairie police investigated and found sexually explicit videos of a female student on Gilkey-Meisegeier’s phone. Police found that he had superimposed the faces of female students onto hundreds of pornographic images and took pictures at school of clothed female students’ private areas and feet, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Gilkey-Meisegeier is also facing charges in Dane County Circuit Court of two felony counts of child sexual exploitation and 13 felony counts of possession of child pornography related to an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student. That case is still pending. A scheduling conference for this case is scheduled for June 1, according to online court records.
The former principal of Sun Prairie West High School, Jennifer Ploeger, is also facing charges in Dane County Circuit Court: three misdemeanor counts of failing to report child abuse in connection with Gilkey-Meisegeier’s case. Ploeger’s case is also pending. Online court records show a status conference has been scheduled for May 28.
Gilkey-Meisegeier’s attorney, Christopher T. Van Wagner, was not immediately available to talk to a reporter about the case.
In an emailed statement, Sun Prairie Area School District interim director of communications and engagement Perry Hibner said the district is focused on providing a safe and nurturing environment for its students and is there to support students’ social, emotional and academic needs.
“We continue to work to make sure we address concerns as quickly as possible. The district never condones behavior that could endanger the welfare of a child by any employee, and we continue to reinforce with all staff our collective expectation that student safety remains paramount at all times,” Hibner’s statement said.
Contact Alec Johnson at 262-875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Sun Prairie dean of students sentenced to prison for child porn
Reporting by Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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