Protection Orders Granted Against Former CSC Student Trustee Nominee

     Dawes County Judge Russ Harford has granted protection orders requested by two female Chadron State College students against a now-former student.

     Caleb Tegtmeier was nominated earlier this year by Gov Pete Ricketts to be the CSC student representative on the State College System Board of Trustees, but Ricketts withdrew it after the 2 women filed their protection requests in February.

      Tegtmeierm from North Platte, admits there was sexual contact with both women, but insists it was consensual – a claim rejected by Judge Harford in his ruling.

      Harford, a one-time Nebraska State trooper, wrote he didn’t agree with Tegtmeier’s theory that sexual contact by an aggressor is consensual until the “recipient” of the contact says “no.”

      In granting one of the protection orders, Harford wrote it was clear to him that Tegtmeier “preys on vulnerable female students and takes advantage of them sexually under the guise of being there to help and support them.”

     Court records from an April hearing on the requests show the lawyer representing the women said 3 other female students alleged they had similar experiences with Tegtmeier, who left Chadron State this spring.

      His mother Elizabeth Tegtmeier, the GOP nominee for the Nebraska State Board of Education seat covering most of western Nebraska, confirms her son left the school.

     In an email to the Nebraska Examiner, she said “it’s better for everyone if he moves on so that all of the students can get the best possible education,” but emphasized her son continues to disagree with the allegations and process at Chadron State.