Wisconsin Museum Director Accused of Embezzling Money from School for Students with Special Needs

The director of a museum in Wisconsin could face more than 40 years in prison after being accused of embezzling money from a school for students with special needs that had listed her as its principal.

Investigators in Racine County said that Heather Wenthold, who had just been named the leader of the Cedarburg Art Museum in January, allegedly embezzled $100,000 from Sonnenberg Consultants, which runs three schools across Wisconsin.

Although Wenthold was the full-time director of the Cedarburg Art Museum, Sonnenberg schools had also listed her as its full-time principal. Yet, according to the Ozaukee County News Graphic, Sonnenberg’s complaint against Wenthold states that, per a Sonnenberg employee, she had only physically been to the school five times during the 2022–23 school year as of this past April.

Per the complaint, Sonnenberg separated itself from Wenthold on May 18. By then, she had allegedly deleted thousands of emails. Sonnenberg accused her of giving herself bonuses and paid herself certain amounts without permission, and of having billed the schools for a $5,000 fee that was used to fund the creation of a hot tub for herself. Wenthold also allegedly used funds from the school to support vacations, home renovations, and more.

In addition to the embezzlement counts, Wenthold faces counts of misdemeanor bail jumping, a count of felony personal ID theft, and a count of computer crimes in relation to the destruction of data.

The Ozaukee County News Graphic reported that Wenthold had been charged for “disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse enhancer in 2022, a misdemeanor,” and that in 2017, she had been cited in Waukeshau County for issuing a worthless check.

Tom Felmer, president of the Cedarburg Art Museum, told the Ozaukee County News Graphic that Wenthold had been placed on unpaid administrative leave and that she no longer had any access to anything related to the institution. He said he had not been made aware of any criminal activity on her part prior to her hiring.

“Heather has gained the trust of a lot of people in the community,” he said. “She did a lot of good things for the museum. It was a surprise to hear that.”