By Shereen Siewert
Court documents filed Friday show 20 victims have so far been identified whose genital areas or buttocks were secretly recorded by a former D.C. Everest High School teacher.
Travis Greil, 38, had an initial appearance Feb. 28 in Marathon County Circuit Court, where he faces 13 counts of child sexual exploitation, 13 counts of possessing child pornography and 13 counts of invasion of privacy by viewing, broadcasting or recording an individual’s genitals.
Court documents show the age of the victims range from 15 to 38.
During a probable cause hearing earlier this month, Circuit Judge Mike Moran ordered Greil held on a $100,000 cash bond with the $20,000 to be paid in cash. Greil did pay the cash bond and was released shortly afterward.
But during an initial appearance Friday, Greil’s bond was raised to $500,000 cash. He was taken back into custody following the hearing.
An investigation began Feb. 12 when a D.C. Everest student came forward with accusations about Greil. The reporting witness told police she was called in to speak with Greil inside his classroom. Once inside, he instructed the alleged victim to use his computer to access her Canvas account.
The girl said she noticed Greil had an iPad on his lap with the camera side up. She was paying attention because she had become suspicious of Greil, according to police, due to ongoing rumors that Greil had recorded other students in the past.
A second witness came forward the next day with a similar story, according to the complaint.
In most of the cases documented so far Greil behaved in much of the same way, instructing the alleged victim to come to his desk while using his iPad to record video of bare legs, buttocks and genital areas. Police seized more than 100 videos from Greil throughout the course of their investigation.
The videos recovered so far date back to early 2016. Multiple students at the school told Wausau Pilot and Review that Greil’s behavior was widely known and has long been the source of rumors in the classroom.
Greil, who taught global studies, human geography and AP classes at D.C. Everest High School, was allowed to resign about a week after he was charged.
Police say Greil allegedly admitted to capturing the videos.
An investigation is ongoing and additional charges could be forthcoming.
