APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Four months after an investigation into former Appleton Xavier Catholic School principal Mike Mauthe began, more information has been released on what prompted the initial complaint against him.
Mauthe was fired in November of 2024, after the Green Bay Catholic Diocese Safe Environment Office received a complaint about the principal. As part of its protocol, the St. Francis Xavier Catholic School system sent the information to police for review.
Appleton Police determined no criminal charges would be filed against Mauthe.
In more than 50 pages of documents, released by Appleton Police, an investigator wrote in his report Becky Walker, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Green Bay, told him “there were concerns about grooming behavior by Mauthe…”
Those concerns were investigated by school officials as they reviewed hundreds of emails sent from Mauthe’s school account to a then high school senior in May of last year.
The female graduated from Xavier in the Spring of 2024.
The emails, along with Mauthe’s school issued computer were all handed over to authorities.
Things he wrote in the email to the female student included;
I honestly have never met anyone like you.
Really glad we’re close,
And
I don’t regret anything. If it wasn’t you, it wouldn’t be anyone. I’ve known a million people. Not one pushes my ideals, challenges my assumptions, or makes me work harder to live up to their expectations of me as you continue to do.
Police never conducted a forensic analysis or getting a search warrant for Mauthe’s computer because the investigator wrote the case did not meet the criminal level.
According to their reports, Appleton Police also spoke with the female student involved.
During an interview with police, she admitted to exchanging emails with Mauthe when she a senior at Xavier. She also told police the communication continued via text messaging while she was at college.
The female telling an investigator the relationship was,
…unhealthy for me and I think that it was like manipulative and I think that like hurt the way, like I see things. I don’t know. I don’t think it was good.
She also told police the relationship was never physical or sexual in nature and Mauthe never asked for anything sexual and the two never exchanged any pictures.
Following Mauthe’s termination, supporters created the “We Stand with Mike Mauthe!” Facebook group.
In that group, a letter Mauthe penned on his personal Facebook page was shared. Mauthe wrote, he accepted the school’s decision to terminate him and urged students and families to do the same. He also admitted to making mistakes during his career and said he is willing to accept the consequences.
In a statement following the release of the investigation records, Appleton Police Chief Polly Olson said,
On November 12, 2024, the Appleton Police Department was contacted by the Diocese of Green Bay regarding their Appleton-based Xavier High School and the school principal, Mike Mauthe. Diocese leaders were concerned about information they discovered while investigating a personnel complaint made to them regarding Mr. Mauthe. The Diocese’s investigation centered on electronic communication Mauthe had with a former Xavier High School student. As these communications were reviewed, the Diocese was concerned about the nature of the subject matter and they contacted the Appleton Police Department. A detailed investigation was completed over the next four months, and the Appleton Police Department determined there was not probable cause to believe a crime had been committed by Mauthe and the investigation was closed.
Prior to his termination from Xavier High School, Mike Mauthe had announced he was leaving Xavier at the end of the current school year for a similar position with St. Mary’s Catholic School in Neenah.
Following the initial complaint, filed with the Green Bay Catholic Diocese, St. Mary’s rescinded its offer.
