MADISON, Wis. — The director of Madison’s Henry Vilas Zoo is being accused of sexually assaulting a zoo employee at a conference in Seattle.
According to court documents, a man who was working at the zoo at the time accused Ronda Schwetz of groping him and grabbing his private parts in a hotel room the two were sharing at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference in 2018.
Schwetz was married and the man was in a serious relationship with a boyfriend at the time.
The man reported Schwetz was upset and “very drunk” on the night of September 23, 2018 because the zoo had recently failed an accreditation. As the man tried to console her, he says she talked about wanting to have sex with him before grabbing him between the legs.
The man also reported Schwetz was sexually aggressive toward him again the next night, after she had again been drinking. He says she again grabbed his private area and tried to kiss him before he pushed her away.
Schwetz reportedly fell asleep in the bathroom and the man went to bed, only to wake up to Schwetz naked and on top of him. He again pushed her off before she went back to sleep.
The next morning, the man says she invited him to breakfast and thanked him for being a good friend and for the mutual trust they had, which the man interpreted as an attempt to prevent him from saying anything about the incidents.
The man eventually left his job at the zoo and came forward after his work was out of her control. He says he felt she had “total control over his life” at the time because he was in the country on an H1 Visa at the time and could not afford to lose his job. He has since been able to get a Green Card.
Despite leaving the zoo, the incident report filed with the Seattle Police Department shows the man still fears Schwetz is “on a mission to ruin (his) career,” since he has been removed from committees she was in charge of.
Schwetz is currently facing a civil lawsuit in Seattle.
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