Former Sun Prairie High School Dean of Students Sentenced to 18 Years for Producing Child Pornography

MADISON, WIS. - Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Robert Gilkey-Meisegeier, 31, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 18 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. The prison term will be followed by 25 years of supervised release. Gilkey-Meisegeier was also ordered to pay a $10,000 assessment. He pleaded guilty to this crime on February 6, 2026.

"Make no mistake, Gilkey-Meisegeier is a predator," said U.S. Attorney Elgersma. "He used his position as the Dean of Students to target, groom, and exploit students in his care. I commend the courage of the victims and the diligence of investigators who worked tirelessly to hold Gilkey-Meisegeier responsible for his crimes. Today's sentence sends a clear message - anyone who sexually exploits children will face serious consequences."

Gilkey-Meisegeier originally joined the Sun Prairie School District in July 2022 as a youth advocate. Two years later, in August 2024, the school district promoted him to Dean of Students, a position that he held until the district terminated him on June 9, 2025.

In the spring of 2023, two individuals complained to school district personnel about Gilkey-Meisegeier's concerning behavior towards certain students. In April 2025, a third individual submitted an anonymous tip to district personnel alleging that Gilkey-Meisegeier was having an inappropriate relationship with a student. He denied the allegation.

In May 2025, Sun Prairie law enforcement became aware that Gilkey-Meisegeier may have solicited child pornography from a student. An investigation ensued and law enforcement officers found sexually explicit videos of a female student on Gilkey-Meisegeier's phone. Communications recovered from the phone further revealed that the minor produced the images at Gilkey-Meisegeier's direction. Gilkey-Meisegeier also had a folder on his phone labeled "my eyes only" containing pornographic images of a 12-year-old female downloaded from the internet.

Further investigation revealed that Gilkey-Meisegeier's superimposed the faces of female students onto hundreds of pornographic images, and surreptitiously took pictures at the high school that focused on clothed female students' pubic areas, buttocks, and feet.

Law enforcement recovered communications that Gilkey-Meisegeier had with one student discussing the anonymous tip in April 2025. He told the student that he found out the identity of the tipster and said that he wanted to "ruin their life."

At sentencing, Judge Conley noted Gilkey-Meisegeier had engaged in an ongoing pattern of predatory and manipulative behavior in which he groomed students to engage in inappropriate relationships, including sexual contact at school. Judge Conley also noted that Gilkey-Meisegeier's clear lack of remorse, including his use of phone accounts of other inmates while in custody to contact minor victims, factored into his sentencing decision.

The charge against Gilkey-Meisegeier was the result of an investigation conducted by the Sun Prairie Police Department with assistance from the University of Wisconsin Police Department, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Pfluger prosecuted this case.

This investigation was a part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.