Ex-SG principal gets prison

From the Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Ex-SG principal gets prison
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

SPRING GROVE – Janet Pope was shocked when she found out that the former principal at her daughter's school, Spring Grove Elementary, was charged with committing a sex act with a minor last spring.

But her reaction at that time paled in comparison to how she felt about the one-year prison sentence that he received in Milwaukee County Court Wednesday.

"That's it? For what he's done?" Pope said. "I'm appalled. It should have been seven [years]."

Daniel Markofski, 48, was sentenced to one year in prison and 18 months of extended supervision on two felony counts of exposing a child to harmful material and a misdemeanor county of committing a sex act with a child 16 or older. Markofski was charged in April, after police said they found him watching pornography with two teenage girls at a Super-8 Motel in Glendale, Wis. The girls, now ages 16 and 17, were in various states of undress, according to police reports.

Markofski pleaded guilty to the charges in September, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, who requested that he be sentenced to 18 months in prison and 18 months of extended supervision.

Chris Quinn, assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County, said Markofski's sentence was satisfactory.

"That's fairly similar to what I was requesting as part of the plea agreement," Quinn said. "[It's] basically the same general spirit and same idea."

Markofski was sentenced by Judge John Franke.

After Markofski completes his prison and supervision sentence, he will be required to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years.

Markofski was removed from his post as principal at Spring Grove Elementary after his arrest in April. After the incident, Nippersink District 2 officials denied Markofski's resignation request and fired him.

In June, the district school board tightened hiring policies by requiring new employees in the district to pass a mandatory drug test. When police discovered Markofski and the two girls, they were investigating a marijuana odor coming from their motel room.

Other community members echoed Pope's disappointment in the sentence.

"It should be longer," said Mary Rabelhofer, of Spring Grove. "It was a serious offense."