SHEBOYGAN FALLS, WI (WHBL) - Thomas McCue is well known in Sheboygan Falls, given that he has served on the city’s Common Council for ten years, on and off. He is currently not on the council, but does plan to run again this spring. However, his ability to do so may have been in doubt if he was still facing criminal charges in Oneida County.
The charges of child abuse and disorderly conduct were dropped last month after an investigation determined what was seen by someone was not what it was in the Rhinelander area back in July. McCue recently provided WHBL an exclusive interview regarding his side of the whole situation that lasted four months.
As for why McCue was in Oneida County last July, he says it was for one of his sons, Cole, who was attending a Boys Scout camp south of Rhinelander. Despite the challenges this presented Cole due to his Asperger Syndrome, McCue says Cole made it through the week successfully. As a reward, he decided to treat his son to dinner at an area restaurant.
At one point after the meal, Cole’s soda was knocked over. Despite McCue’s effort to stop it, the soda spilled and a loud noise was made. That caused Cole to act out and make a few inappropriate comments. That caused McCue to take Cole outside to leave. “So I sent him to the truck, and as we were walking to the truck I simply gave him a push kick in the butt; didn’t stagger, did not come down, of course did not leave a mark. We simply got in our truck and drove away.”
McCue says he thought nothing of it, until the next day. As the two were driving home McCue’s wife called him and said there was an active warrant out for him. After getting home, McCue reached out to his brother, a detective in Manitowoc County, to find out what the situation was. “And he said yeah, it’s felony child abuse for something along the lines of a witness stated that I repeatedly punched my son in the face, as if I was punching an adult. (It) literally made me sick to my stomach, that that would be an accusation of how could somebody do that. So once I was through with the vomiting end of things, I called a criminal defense attorney.”
The next morning, McCue made the decision to go to the Sheboygan Falls Police Department to try to get this straightened out. What followed were several months of court appearances in Oneida County as the court case proceeded.
In addition, there were interviews done by investigators and the state Department of Social Services. “Their investigator came over,” says McCue, “interviewed my wife, interviewed three of my four children; she also interviewed neighbors, our day care provider, close friends, distant friends, and all of them had the exact same …Thom would not do this. We’ve seen him with his kids, we’ve seen him with our kids, something’s not right thing.”
The case was scheduled to go to trial on November 19, but just before that McCue got word that the charges were being dropped by the Oneida County District’s Attorney’s Office. “The DA had already spoken to the judge that they had investigated and found absolutely no evidence,” says McCue. “The speculation, again, is that this one individual from about 125 feet away looking through a window and then through our windshield in all likelihood saw Cole flailing his arms as I was putting his seat belt on him, and assumed I was hitting him. But there’s no evidence, there’s no physical evidence, there’s no history, nothing to support any of this.” As part of a deal for dropping the charges, McCue did see a counselor for possible anger management issues that were not found.
Now with some time to reflect on the entire ordeal, McCue has reached several conclusions. First, it was more of a humbling experience than humiliating. “We were humbled by the number of people that we know that reached out to us said, ‘hey we saw this on the news. We heard it on the radio, and that they know that something’s not right because they know me. Some of these people have known me my entire life, some had just met me. I would say probably about 70 to 75 different people reached out, whether it be a text, an e-mail, a phone call, saying whatever you guys need we’re here for you.” Around 15 also wrote letters to the judge for the case supporting McCue and his character.
McCue adds that the ordeal also helped to bring his family closer together. “It’s brought my wife and me closer together, my children and my wife and I all as a family closer because you really start to understand the value of that time together. It’s certainly strengthened our faith, and that’s been a huge part of getting through all this. And it’s really strengthened our relationships with our friends, because you don’t really realize the impact you have on somebody’s life until something happens and we’ve had nothing but great comments from people that have reached out to us, and we’re thankful for that. As odd as that sounds, this event changed our lives for the better.”
As for his thoughts of the person who thought he saw a child abuse incident, McCue was at first angry, but now says he can’t fault the person for doing something that he thought he saw. “Had he thought he saw something and not had gotten involved, and an adult is abusing a child, I can’t imagine that child going through life of that gentleman going through life thinking ‘I should had done something. I could have done something.’ So honestly through it all I’m thankful that the individual got involved. I certainly wished that the investigation would have happened before charges.”