RACINE, Wisconsin – A Racine Unified School District teacher’s aide has been criminally charged for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a male student for two years.

Lisa Myhre, 33, of Racine, is charged with repeated sexual assault of the same child and sexual assault of a student by an instructional staff member, according to the criminal complaint filed at the Law Enforcement Center Monday afternoon.

The sexual contact allegedly began when the student was 14 years old and in the eighth grade at McKinley Middle School. The relationship ended in or just before January 2005, according to the complaint.

Myhre, also known as Lisa Street, allegedly performed oral sex on the boy, kissed him, and masturbated him throughout the course of the relationship, but did not engage in sexual intercourse with him.

The boy also admitted to fondling Myhre numerous times, the complaint says.

The victim, now 17, told his mother on Oct. 24, who informed police on Oct. 25.

Meanwhile, police are investigating the possibility of a second victim, said Sgt. William Macemon, public information officer for the Racine Police

Department.

Myhre works at Knapp Elementary School as a special education assistant working with special education students, said Linda Flashinski, director of communications for Unified.

Myhre was placed on a paid suspension Oct. 25 after the district learned of the police investigation, Flashinski said.

Myhre, who police said is pregnant, was arrested just before 3 p.m. Monday by Racine police, Macemon said.

She was booked into the Racine County Jail, where she remained Tuesday night. A cash bond of $10,000 has been set, jail officials said.

She is expected to make her initial appearance in court today, said Racine County District Attorney Michael E. Nieskes.

If convicted on all charges, Myhre faces a possible 66 years in prison and up to $10,000 fine. An online search of Wisconsin court records show Myhre has no criminal background in Wisconsin.

In the beginning Myhre first noticed the boy in the beginning of his eighth-grade year at McKinley, said the boy’s mother.

“She told me she had to get to know who this kid was that didn’t smile. She looked at his grades and saw they weren’t great and asked him if he needed help,” the boy’s mother said.

The Journal Times is not identifying the boy’s mother because of the boy’s age.

Myhre began tutoring the boy in math over the year.

In December of that year, the boy began dating Myhre’s daughter, who was also a McKinley student, the boy’s mother said.

That’s when the sexual encounters began, according to the mother and the criminal

complaint.

The first time Myhre had inappropriate contact with the victim was when they were in a classroom in McKinley and she kissed him, the complaint says.

The boy was 14 at the time. The sexual abuse continued into the boy’s time at Park High School, to which Myhre was transferred in October 2004. Myhre had requested the transfer, Unified officials say.

Following the kiss, the boy and Myhre had sexual contact at her home, the boy’s home, Myhre’s estranged husband’s home and in her vehicle.

Myhre allegedly performed oral sex on the boy during a vacation in Sparta, the complaint says.

Myhre and the boy’s mother became close friends over the years and the boy’s mother trusted her completely, the boy’s mother said. She said she was blindsided by Myhre’s kindness. “We were like sisters,” the mother said tearfully. “She figured out how to manipulate me. I still can’t believe she did it.”

The boy’s mom said she often relied on Myhre to check in on her son when she had to spend the night at a Milwaukee hospital where her other son, who is handicapped, received treatment. “I was so sure she was genuine person. She set me up for that,” the boy’s mother said.

The boy told police he and Myhre had sexual contact in his room and in his living room, the complaint says.

On one occasion, Myhre asked the boy if he wanted to have sexual intercourse. When he declined because he did not have a condom, Myhre allegedly told him it was OK, that he didn’t need one, the complaint says.

The victim said Myhre allegedly told him not to tell anyone about the sexual encounters because no one would understand, the complaint says.

“She made him pinkie promise never to tell anyone, no matter how mad he got at her. She just groomed him,” the mother said.

When the dating relationship between Myhre’s daughter and the boy ended in January, Myhre stopped having her sexual relationship with him, the boy’s mother said.

Unified to investigate Unified will conduct an investigation into the allegations against Myhre, school officials said.

Myhre was hired by the district in 2001 and began her career at McKinley, Flashinski said.

She requested and received a transfer to Park High School; in September she was transferred to Knapp Elementary School, Flashinski said.

Flashinski did not immediately know why Myhre was transferred twice.

The district declined to comment further because it is a personnel matter.

Even though Myhre has been charged, she remains on paid leave pending the outcome of her case, Flashinski said.

“Until there is due process, there is no basis for termination,” Flashinski said. “We have to establish just cause, meaning that misconduct must be proven.”