STURGEON BAY, Wis. — Almost three years after his arrest for sex crimes, former Franklin College president Thomas Minar on Monday received a sentence of six years in prison and six years of extended supervision.
News of his arrest in January 2020 rocked the Franklin College community, which prides itself on being a close-knit place where people can develop into their best selves. It launched soul-searching on the small Indiana campus, suddenly thrust into the national news, as well as the long legal inquiry in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where Minar had been visiting his elderly mother.
“These are extremely serious offenses,” said Door County Circuit Court Judge David Weber when handing down the sentence that was longer than the mandatory minimum. “For that reason, I turn to protection of the public. That is my highest duty.”
Minar and his legal counsel referred to difficulty in his job at Franklin College as one of many factors leading to his downward spiral and attempt to meet with a teen who was really an undercover police officer.
Minar originally received 15 charges, including 12 counts for possession of child pornography, using a computer to facilitate a sex crime, child enticement, and exposing a child to harmful narrations. In March 2022, he pleaded no contest to four of the charges.
His sentence prohibits contact with minors, social media and internet use without prior approval from his probation agent. Minar will be listed in the Wisconsin State Sex Offender registry.
