KENOSHA, Wis. — More than two years after Kenosha County Eye first broke the story of former KTEC teacher Christian Enwright’s alleged grooming of a middle school student, the controversy has spawned criminal convictions, statewide legislation, and now a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
On Monday, Kenosha County Eye editor Kevin Mathewson filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in Kenosha County Circuit Court, seeking a court order compelling DPI to respond to a public records request he submitted on January 1, 2026. According to the lawsuit, DPI acknowledged receipt of the request within minutes but has provided no records, no denial, no estimate of costs, no request for clarification, and no substantive communication in the more than five months since.
The case was assigned to Judge Angelina Gabriele. Court records show the action was filed as Case No. 2026CV000664 on June 8, 2026.
(Kenosha County DA’s Office)
Mathewson’s request seeks records related to educator licensing, discipline, investigations, regulatory actions, and the surrender of Enwright’s teaching credentials. According to the lawsuit, the request specifically sought records concerning any disciplinary investigations, communications with Kenosha Unified School District, settlement agreements, voluntary license surrender documents, and final administrative findings.
The Enwright case became one of the most closely watched educator misconduct cases in Wisconsin after Kenosha County Eye first reported in May 2024 that the KTEC West Middle School teacher had been accused of grooming a student. The case ultimately resulted in Enwright pleading guilty to multiple criminal counts and being sentenced to jail. The reporting also sparked statewide debate over gaps in Wisconsin law regarding child grooming.
Mathewson’s interest in the matter is also personal. His children attended KTEC while Enwright worked there.
Representative Amanda Nedweski later cited the Enwright case and Kenosha County Eye’s reporting as inspiration for legislation creating a standalone felony child-grooming offense. The bill passed the Wisconsin Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law earlier this year. The lawsuit itself notes that the Enwright matter directly inspired Assembly Bill 677, which created the new felony offense.
For Mathewson, however, the story remains unfinished.
“Unfortunately, the Christian Enwright saga is not quite over,” Mathewson told Kenosha County Eye. “I want to know, and my readers want to know, why he was allowed to simply surrender his teaching license and why it wasn’t revoked.”
The lawsuit alleges that DPI has effectively ignored the request despite acknowledging receipt on January 1.
“I made a public records request more than five months ago, and the DPI is attempting to hide those records by not turning them over,” Mathewson said. “So today I decided enough was enough and I sued them.”
In the petition, Mathewson argues that Wisconsin’s Public Records Law requires agencies to respond to requests “as soon as practicable and without delay” and that DPI’s complete silence for more than five months amounts to an unlawful withholding of records.
The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling DPI to either release the requested records or provide a lawful written denial identifying the legal basis for withholding them.
The filing comes against the backdrop of a major investigation by the Cap Times, which reported that hundreds of educator sexual misconduct and grooming-related cases were shielded from public view and that DPI had limited investigative resources devoted to educator discipline matters. The investigation found that DPI employs only a small number of investigators to handle educator misconduct complaints statewide, while processing more than 100 investigations annually.
Mathewson believes the records may shed light on broader issues inside the agency.
“I think more than five months is clearly a delay. It’s not practicable,” Mathewson said. “I think it was done to hide just how badly the DPI operates and how they treat all of the cases that come before them, even the worst one — the one that inspired legislation. If DPI can’t timely produce records in the case that led to a new Wisconsin law, what does that say about every other educator misconduct case that comes through the agency?”
The lawsuit states that DPI automatically acknowledged receipt of the request on January 1, 2026, informing Mathewson that a response would be provided “as soon as practicable and without delay.” A second automated message advised that the request would be reviewed in the order it was received. According to the filing, no further communication has occurred since then.
As for the judge assignment, Mathewson said he does not expect Judge Gabriele to remain on the case.
“Right now the case is assigned to Judge Gabriele, but she doesn’t like to make tough decisions when I file lawsuits, so she has recused herself 100 percent of the times that I’ve had a lawsuit in front of her,” Mathewson said. “It’s unknown where this will end up or in front of what judge, but I look forward to a Kenosha County judge deciding what ‘as soon as practicable and without delay’ means.”
As of publication, DPI had not filed a response to the lawsuit. Under the summons filed in the case, the agency has 45 days to answer the petition.
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6 Responses
Go get em Kevin
Kevin, I’ve told you this several of times but I’m going to tell you again, keep up the great work and thank you for keeping us informed.
… DPI feels it’s their job to protect Teachers ???
Then again it’s not hard to figure out. They are in the bag with the Teachers Union.
Even at that why would any organization work at protecting the bad apples inside of it ?
Tenacious, you are, Kevin!!! Thank you! Can you also find out how much this pedophile has cost KUSD, that they need another referendum???? And where did all the Covid money go?
The USA is corrupt as hell yet it lecturers other countries on democracy. Ha
Unreal, but sadly, repeatable. Thanks for doing what you do, Kevin ♥️