MONROE — A former New Glarus police officer originally charged with felony 3rd Degree Sexual Assault of a woman he knew pleaded guilty Monday, July 22 in Green County Circuit Court to a reduced charge of 4th degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor.
As such, Circuit Judge Faun Phillipson accepted a plea agreement reached between the prosecution and defendant Alexander A. Brey, 30, that calls for the former cop and ex-Marine to serve two years of probation. But he will not be charged with a felony, and he will not be required by the court to register as a sex offender in the state; nor will he be required to undergo counseling for sex abuse.
Still, Phillipson told Brey and his attorney prior to accepting the plea that the decision related to the sex offender registry is not the court’s alone but will be ultimately decided by the State Department of Corrections and Brey’s probation agent. She added that while she respects the defendant’s remorseful actions since his arrest, the matter is nonetheless “serious” in the eyes of the court.
Earlier this spring on the day Brey, then 29, resigned from his job with New Glarus PD, the Iowa County District Attorney’s office filed a 3rd-degree sexual assault charge against him. Green County District Attorney Craig Nolen referred the matter to the Iowa County District Attorney’s Office for charging.
Iowa County Assistant District Attorney Curtis Johnson prosecuted the case because Nolen determined that it would be a conflict of interest to handle it. In court, Johnson said that after speaking with the victim and studying the case, he did not have a problem with the probation sentence or any fear that Brey — who now works in landscaping — will pose a safety risk to the public.
Indeed, Phillipson said that in weighing the probation and reduced sentence, she considered several factors, including the fact that the victim, a former intimate partner of Brey’s, did not wish to seek a felony prosecution and does not fear any repeat of the behavior in the future.
She also sought to ensure that the defendant, as a former law enforcement officer who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps, was not treated less — or more, severely — by the court.
“Nobody is above the law and nobody is below the law,” she said, calling the plea agreement reached between the two parties an appropriate and “elegant” solution.
New Glarus Police Chief Jeff Sturdevant declined to comment on the matter, but in a statement following the charges being brought, said the charge is “not related to his official duties with the New Glarus Police Department, nor are they alleged to have occurred during the course of the execution of his duties as a police officer in the Village of New Glarus.”
The charge, according to the criminal complaint, stemmed from an August 2023 incident at Brey’s home when either the defendant, the victim or both were intoxicated by gummy candy including THC. The victim, who knew Brey, told police the assault happened when she was sleeping.
The charge was a Class G felony, which would have been punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $25,000 fine, or both. If convicted, he could have been required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.
Phillipson and Brey’s attorney also pointed out that the defendant initially told another officer what he had done to the victim out of a sense of guilt; and that he was, and remains, remorseful. He apologized to the court and the victim and took full responsibility for his actions, she added.
The incident “in no way reflects who I am as an individual,” he said, prior to the court’s ruling.
If he violates terms of the probation, he would be subject to resentencing in Green County Circuit Court. Phillipson also declined to place any restrictions on the defendant related to seeing the victim or co-parenting a child they share.