UWM Professor Anthony Azenabor, Accused of Sexual Assault, Pleads Not Guilty

When approached in a public hallway, UWM Professor Anthony Azenabor had no comment regarding the sexual assault allegations against him following his waived preliminary hearing this morning.

Azenabor and his defense attorney Odalo Joseph Ohiku entered the court room at 8:30 a.m. He entered a not guilty plea at the short hearing. The judge said the hearing would be waived and found probable cause to bind Azenabor over for trial. The attorney brought Azenabor out the back exit of the courtroom, initially away from media. However, a student journalist then saw him outside an elevator.

“Don’t do that,” Azenabor said when a Media Milwaukee journalist approached to ask for an interview and took his photo in the public hallway on the first floor of the Milwaukee County Safety Building. His standoff nature made it clear he wasn’t interested in answering questions.

When asked about the accusations that have been made against him, Azenabor smiled, looked down and didn’t respond.

A Media Milwaukee reporter, Kynnah Neal, previously called the defendant’s attorney, Odalo Joseph Ohiku, also seeking comment, but he was similarly unresponsive.

In addition to the not guilty plea, Azenabor’s attorney filed a substitution on the judge initially assigned to the case – Jeff Wagner. The Clerk of Circuit Court then assigned the case to Judge Janet Protasiewicz, according to court records. He also was required previously to surrender his passport. The court records include a “notice of Passport Surrender sent to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement – DRO for Federal Republic of Nigeria Passport.”

Student journalists aren’t getting many answers from UWM officials, either. UWM has not released much new information regarding Azenabor’s employment as a professor at UWM. He is under a no contact order by the court, stating that he cannot be on UWM’s campus or be in contact with his accusers.

Azenabor was charged with two felony counts of second-degree sexual assault with use of force and one misdemeanor count of fourth-degree sexual assault. The defendant is subject to up to 40 years imprisonment for each felony charge with a maximum of $100,000 each in fines. He also faces up to nine months of imprisonment for the misdemeanor with a maximum of $10,000 in fines.

Student journalists are still awaiting answers from UWM regarding a series of questions they posed, such as when the university first learned about the accusations, how many complaints they’ve received overall about Azenabor over the years, what his teaching evaluations say, and more.

Since then, University Relations representative Michelle Johnson responded via email with the following statement: “Prof. Azenabor was assigned to teach two courses in the Fall 2018 semester and taught them until mid-November 2018. Other reporters have asked when he was hired, so I’ll also let you know that he began working at UWM in August 2001. You will need to file open records requests for answers to your other questions, and our public records custodian will evaluate those requests when they are received.” Media Milwaukee filed the open records request. It has yet to be fulfilled.

Azenabor was a Fulbright Faculty Associate in 2005 and 2016 for the U.S. Department of State.

In 2014, the defendant’s ex-wife, Sarah Azenabor, took him to court for allegedly owing over $43,000 in child and spousal support, according to Wisconsin court records. Besides the divorce, the defendant has nothing else in the Wisconsin Court System. According to the UW System employee salary database, he made over $110,000 during fiscal year 2017.

His accuser “stated that her former professor, who she identified as Anthony Azenabor, the above-named Defendant, engaged in non-consensual sexual contact and sexual intercourse with her during the time he was her assigned PhD program adviser,” said the criminal complaint from Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

When the student asked Azenabor why he allegedly sexually assaulted her, he said, “You’re the person I’m in love with, I love you,” alleged the criminal complaint.

Another graduate student alleges that inappropriate behavior occurred between her and the defendant. Both students didn’t report the situation immediately for fear of not receiving their graduate degrees.

Azenabor is currently released on bail.  He will appear in court again on March 28 at 8:30 a.m.