Brynn Larsen’s appeal to live near West Side Beach denied

Brynn Larsen said she wanted to return home to Oconto Falls, but the Oconto Falls Common Council said she couldn’t — at least not in the spot she had picked.

The council voted unanimously Aug. 18 to deny Larsen’s request to move into a home she was buying in the city because it was within established boundaries where sex offenders are forbidden to live. Sex offenders are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and churches, and the house Larsen wanted to buy on West Highland Avenue is within 1,000 feet of West Side Beach.

Larsen informed Oconto Falls Police Chief Brad Olson of her plans to relocate during the second week of July, with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections claiming there were no restrictions that could be afoul of the law. Olson told the council he looked at the map and realized the proximity to the beach, so he denied her request.

“I notified Brynn Larsen that this would be in violation of our sex offender residency restrictions, and she was notified of the appeal process,” Olson said.

He told the plan commission that Larsen had already put down “a substantial amount of money” to buy the home. He added that he would not have known in advance of the move if Larsen hadn’t come forward to tell him, because the Department of Corrections doesn’t inform municipalities until the relocation has already taken place.

City ordinance allowed Larsen to appeal Olson’s decision, so she appeared before the city’s plan commission earlier in the evening before the case was taken up by the council. The ordinance required the appeal receive both the approval of the plan commission and the council.

Larsen was a former assistant coach and substitute teacher with the Oconto Falls School District who was sentenced in 2021 to two years in prison and five years on probation after having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in 2013. She is designated as a level 3 sex offender.

“I wanted to leave everything out in the open,” Larsen said as she explained why she gave Olson a heads-up about moving back to Oconto Falls. “I did not want to hide anything.”

The ordinance does not prohibit Larsen from living in the city, as long as the property is not in close proximity to places where children may congregate.

Larsen spoke about what she’d done and how she’s turned her life around.

“I understand that I did something very terrible,” Larsen said. “I take full responsibility for that.”

Larsen said she went through the sex offender treatment program, and now she has a commercial driver’s license and a full-time job, although she did not go into detail about her new job. She has also found a spiritual home at Grace Lutheran Church, and several people attended the council meeting to support her.

“People ask me why I want to stay here,” Larsen said. “I was born at the hospital. I was raised here for 37 years, and this place is my home. I messed up my reputation bad, but coming back here, this was always a place of warmth for me.”

Oconto Falls resident Carolyn Vandenlangenberg spoke in favor of approving Larsen’s appeal, saying she doesn’t view Larsen as a current threat to the community.

“I don’t feel that Brynn is detrimental to anyone,” Vandenlangenberg said. “I would have her babysit my grandchildren with no fear. It’s not like she’s pulling anything with you guys. She’s followed the law and the process in order to try to have a life.”

Vandenlangenberg added Larsen could be living three doors down from the proposed property and be outside the restricted area, but it would still be a neighborhood with children in it. She didn’t see what the harm was.

“She has paid her dues, and she went through the right channels,” she said.

A letter from Larsen’s pastor, Chris Antoniak, was also read into the record as a show of support. In the letter, Antoniak wrote that he’d gotten to know Larsen over the last few months. He wrote that she was sincere and dependable, and she eventually hoped to get involved with prison ministry.

“As her pastor, I’ve had the opportunity to observe her in worship but also through her active participation in the life of our congregation,” Antoniak wrote. “She has become an active part of our church family. She currently oversees the care and changing of our altar pyramids, a ministry that requires both faithfulness and attention to detail. She is also about to begin training in our sound and video ministry, taking on additional responsibilities to serve the congregation.”

Not everybody in the audience felt that Larsen’s good deeds post-prison warranted skirting the law. Oconto Falls resident Kevin Rusch noted that when residents and businesses move into Oconto Falls, they look at things like where sex offenders are living, and he felt there was already enough activity in the city to warrant denying Larsen’s request.

“I’m wondering if we’re opening Pandora’s box here and opening ourselves up to future litigation because we allowed this one, but we didn’t allow that one,” Rusch said. “Maybe someone put the cart before the horse and shouldn’t have bought the house.”

Oconto Falls resident Keith Lefebvre was also opposed. He made note of the current lawsuit against the school district claiming that sexual predators on its staff were allowed to flourish without action from administrators or school board members.

“I don’t think the city needs to open itself up to this,” Lefebvre said. “I don’t know Miss Larsen. I never laid eyes on her before tonight. I know nothing about her. I think she has a lot of bravery walking in here, and I commend her for that, but she made some choices. This is the find out part, and that’s the unfortunate reality.”

Red tape got into the mix to delay the council’s decision, because the ordinance required the council to receive the plan commission’s decision in writing.

Because the plan commission met right before the council, the minutes had not been written yet. Alderwoman Ashley Bahrke pointed this out and insisted the council must have it before it could take a vote, so Deputy City Clerk Jenny Friedman had to hastily type up the commission’s action on the agenda item. She brought it back 15 minutes later for a vote.

There was no further discussion by the council before the appeal was denied, but Mayor Clint Braun said he felt the council should abide by the rules the city has in place.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com