Andrew Showers appears before Waupaca County court via Zoom, September 30, 2025. (Waupaca County Court/Zoom)
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A former Madison priest was convicted Tuesday of possession of child pornography, attempted child enticement, and attempted second-degree sexual assault.
Andrew Showers, 38, will be sentenced Jan. 12 after pleading no contest to those three counts. Other counts were dismissed as part of the plea deal, court records show.
Showers was originally charged after trying to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old girl, but “Abby” was actually an undercover police officer. He later was charged with child pornography possession, after a search of his electronic devices.
Showers returns to court Oct. 22 for a Marathon County case, where he is charged with attempted grooming of a child for sexual activity.
According to the criminal complaint, Showers communicated online with an undercover Wausau police officer who he believed was a 15-year-old girl. Investigators say Showers used the Kik and Telegram apps to send messages and photos to the girl, many of which were sexual in nature. The complaint says he made several references acknowledging the girl’s age and the legal risks of communicating with a minor.
Since becoming a priest in 2017, Showers served at two churches in Northeast Wisconsin. He was at All Saints in Berlin and Our Lady of the Lake in Green Lake in 2022 and 2023. Showers also served at parishes in Madison, Waunakee, Clinton and Wisconsin Dells.
The Madison Catholic diocese announced in June that Pope Leo XIV had granted Showers’ request for dispensation from his priestly obligations and is no longer recognized as a priest by the church.
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