CLINTONVILLE (WI)
Channel 3000 [Madison WI]
August 28, 2025
By Kyle Jones
A Clintonville police officer went undercover, posing as a 14-year-old girl online, to catch a Madison-area priest charged with child sex crimes, a complaint alleges.
Fr. Andrew Showers, 37, of Madison is charged with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age.
According to a complaint, a police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl named Abby created a post on an adult-targeted forum on the social media and messaging site Reddit. The officer used pictures of another officer, with consent, which were then digitally edited to make the officer appear to be 14.
In the posts, the officer indicated that Abby was looking to meet up with a man from Wisconsin.
The complaint alleges that a user known as DFALK7 then sent a private message to Abby saying he was a 36-year-old man who was in Bailey’s Harbor for the week. The officer replied to the message, saying that Abby was only 14.
The officer was off of work for the next few days, but the complaint claims that the messages from DFALK7 kept coming. When the officer returned to work, the conversation continued.
The complaint alleges that the conversations were sexually explicit, with DFALK7 at one point asking Abby if they could meet on a Monday. When the officer asked what they would do, DFALK7 indicated they would have sex. He then sent Abby a partially nude photo and asked for a photo in return.
According to the complaint, the conversation moved to the messaging app Telegram where DFALK7, using the username DSCHAUER001 continued to ask for photos of Abby and continued to ask questions about sexual topics. A meeting was then arranged for Sunday, Aug. 24, at Wayside Park in Clintonville.
On the day of the planned meetup, officers spotted a person in a vehicle who allegedly resembled DFALK7 and quickly surrounded him. He exited the vehicle and was taken into custody without incident.
Inside the vehicle, police allegedly found two hotel room keys to the Cobblestone Inn, a singular pill of Viagra and a wallet with a Wisconsin drivers license and credit cards with Showers’ name on them.
According to the complaint, after being read his Miranda Rights, Showers wrote a letter to Abby apologizing saying “I am sorry that you were the recipient and victim of my poor decisions and selfish pursuits.”
According to the Diocese of Madison, Showers was most-recently assigned to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Madison and had a presence at St. James School.
He had previous stints at St. John the Baptist in Waunakee, Saint Paul’s Catholic Student Center in Madison and Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in the Wisconsin Dells.
Showers was reported to police in December 2021 over concerns about questions he asked to a middle school-aged boy during Confession. Lodi police looked into the matter but decided the questions did not constitute a crime.
The diocese restricted Showers from all public ministry after his arrest and he is barred from having contact with minors.
He is out of police custody after posting bond but is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Sept. 30.