According to court records, in early 1994 child predator Steven M. Sosinski had his wages garnished from his employer, which was listed at the time as Rexam Extrusions. Rexam Extrusions was the name of Ron Johnson's company, Pacur, during the mid-nineties, but was changed back to Pacur in 1997.
In June of 1993, Sosinski was convicted of felony sexual assualt of a child. In September of 1993 Sosinski filed unemployment, but was hired by Rexam Extrusions / Pacur sometime in early 1994, according to court records. At the time of Sosinski's hiring, Ron Johnson was the general manager / president of Rexam Extrusions. Johnson often says in campaign stump speeches that he interviews, hires and fires everyone at his company, which employs about 100 people.
It is not known at this time if Sosinski was a participant in Pacur's prison-labor government subsidy that recent news reports have illuminated. However, in any event, approximately SIX MONTHS after this guy was convicted of sexually assaulting a child, Johnson gave him a job!
Sosinski was also charged, but apparently not convicted, on what appears to be similar charges in 1987.
Sosinski is on the Wisconsin Sexual Offender Registry, which can be viewed here.
This developmet is significant, because in January, Johnson testified before the Wisconsin State Senate to kill a law that would have made it easier for victims of sexual assault to sue pedophiles (such as Sosinski). Not that it's applicable to Johnson, but Johnson also said in the same testimony that employers that knowingly put children in harm's way of pedophile they are employing shouldn't be sued.
Johnson also served on the Green Bay Diocese's Finance Council, which had at least two sex abuse law suits pending while Johnson was there and repeatedly has been called on by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) to release the names of 54 pedophiles the diocese acknowledges have assaulted children in the past. Many other dioceses, including Milwaukee, have released the names, which were collected as part of a 2004 nationwide report.
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UPDATE: Also relevent to this in the hypocrisy file: A few months ago Ron Johnson did some good 'ol rightwing chest-pounding and told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "I can't think of a penalty that would be too harsh for these guys. I don't think people that prey on children deserve a second chance. I guess God can give them one, but I sure don't think our courts and legal system should."
UPDATE TWO: An Oshkosh reader points out that Johnson's Pacur is less than a mile away from the Christian Child Community Center.
LINK
UPDATE THREE: I also forgot to mention that the GOP here in Wisconsin has been hammering Russ for his comments that Osama Bin Ladin shouldn't be given the death penalty and have been painting Russ with the typical soft-on-crime liberal brush the last week.