It's always struck me as peculiar that Wisconsin—such a wholesome potpourri of Holsteins, Scandinavians and snowflakes—somehow managed to produce not one but two of our nation's grisliest serial killers:

Milwaukee Cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer and Ghoul of Plainfield Ed Gein.

The deeper I delved into the criminal history of America's Dairyland, however, the clearer it became:

there are no coincidences.

The evildoers of Wisconsin are a twisted breed;

scrape away the Midwestern courtesy and melted cheese and behold hearts and minds

grotesque as Green Bay Packers' merchandise and frozen as the tundra of Lambeau Field.

"I think he's got a good heart and a (expletive)-up head."

———–Daniel Acker grooming victim as quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It's a scenario that's played out in the media countless times:

beloved school employee is unmasked as a lifelong sexual predator,

and no one saw it coming despite decades of behavior

that raised more red flags than a University of Madison homecoming parade.

On March 23rd, 2009,

sixty-one year old Milwaukee-area swim coach Daniel Acker was arrested for criminal sexual contact with a child.

Nicknamed Mr. Dan by his students, Acker had worked for the West Allis Recreation Department since 1971;

adored by pupils and parents alike,

the Waukesha resident had used his position of authority to identify, groom, and ultimately molest

vulnerable teenage boys for nearly forty years.

Acker's official victim tally would eventually reach twenty-eight,

although authorities suspect the true number is much higher.

Acker's underage escapades were curtailed entirely by chance;in March of 2009 a forty-seven year old Greenfield man was motoring past Frank Lloyd Wright Middle Schoolwhen he espied a familiar face in the doorway: Mr. Dan,the swim coach who had assaulted him "hundreds" of times in the 1970s between the ages of eleven and fifteen.Aghast to learn his childhood boogeyman was still working with minorsthe man conveyed the details of his abuse to the recreation department, who then notified authorities.After Acker's arrest the Greenfield Police Department set up a special tip line for the coach's victims;as Detective Chuck Fletcher told radio station WTMJ, "[t]he phone was ringing every few minutes."

Acker's rationalizations and the community response to his arrest are classic;

if we were to create a sexual predator bingo card all spaces would be covered:

• The community professed shock at Acker's arrest even though his grooming machinations—gifts, trips, and boundless attention lavished solely on pubescent boys—were so blatant Joe Paterno would've looked askance at his behavior.

• According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "[Acker] stated he would never hurt a child."

• When confronted with his crimes, Acker claimed the behavior was consensual—he was "pleasing and pleasuring [his victims] sexually in gratitude for their friendship." Because if there's one thing a ten-year old boy deserves in exchange for his friendship it's sodomy.

• "I am not a predator," Acker told a reporter from Greenfield Now, as if nearly a half century of pederasty could be wiped away with mental gymnastics and a firm denial.


Although Acker's misdeeds seemed to follow a well-worn path a search of his Waukesha condominium pivoted the Greenfield Police Department's investigation from workaday to outré.Obsessively neat, the residence was well stocked with all the stereotypical pedophile lures,toys, games, and boy-centric fripperies abounding.Tucked away in the basement,an elaborate model city caught an investigator's eye—it was when the detective unhinged the roof of the tiny town's police station that the inquiry into Acker's crimes left the banality of evil in the dust.Inside, bedecking the walls like a miniature scorecard were a dozen photos of missing and murdered children.Further investigation revealed vintage car models inscribed with victims' names,the year of the vehicle's manufacture corresponding with the year of the child's abduction."It's bizarre," Greenfield Deputy Inspector Bradley Wentlandt told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel."No agency has seen anything like it before."

Acker's little cop shop of horrors wasn't the only surprise lurking in his oppressively tidy abode;

detectives unearthed a handwritten journal, hundreds of pages long,

which allegedly chronicled the confirmed bachelor's abiding obsession with missing and murdered children.

Although authorities have never released Acker's