How Could You? Hall of Shame-Peggy Freitag

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Wheaton, Wisconsin, Foster parent Peggy L. Freitag,63, “pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault of a child by a foster parent.”

“What keeps kids going is trusting they will be safe and not harmed in foster care. What Peggy did to (the child) is break this trust and created additional trauma in his life. She took an already vulnerable child and sexually abused him,” Greeley, a senior social worker based in Menomonie, writes in a victim impact statement on behalf of the boy who was assaulted.

“This trauma will have a life long impact which will result in more counseling to address the boy’s mental health and emotional needs,” wrote Greeley, who said Freitag should be sent to prison.

Freitag, 63, of … on Thursday was placed on 36 months probation by Chippewa County Judge Steven Cray. She was sentenced to 150 days in jail and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. She was ordered to give a DNA sample, pay $518 in court costs, and is to register as a sex offender. In addition, she is to have no unsupervised contact with males between the ages of 10-18 years old.

Freitag, who pleaded guilty on a charge that dates to April 14, 2014, held a Dunn County Foster Care license.

“Peggy has caused harm and damage to all employees of the Dunn County Department of Human Services along with other foster parents by breaking this trust and taking advantage of a vulnerable child who was placed there by Dunn County.

“Because of Peggy’s crime, the department is likely to be under scrutiny, along with the other foster parents licensed in the community,” Greeley wrote.”

Foster parent pleads to child’s sexual assault[The Chippewa Herald 4/24/15 by Rod Stetzer]

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