Milwaukee detective gets suspended jail sentence for groping coworker

A Milwaukee police detective was given a suspended jail sentence Thursday following charges he inappropriately touched a female coworker during a department-related function in January 2023.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey A. Wagner on Thursday gave Travis Jung a 45-day jail sentence, but ordered the entire time to be stayed.

Wagner also ordered Jung, 38, to provide a DNA sample, serve 25 hours of community service with a nonprofit or charitable institution and to stay away from the victim.

Jung initially was charged in May 2023 with fourth-degree sexual assault and disorderly conduct and faced a maximum 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

In April, Jung pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, a class-B misdemeanor. At the time, Milwaukee police said in a statement that Jung remained on "full suspension," and that an internal investigation was pending.

The victim told the court Jung's behavior left her feeling violated and that it sparked "my first panic attack." She described his decision to plead no contest as "cowardly."

“No contest” is a plea that allows a defendant to accept conviction without admitting guilt.

According to a criminal complaint:

Jung and other members of the police department were at a venue in the Third Ward. A woman said Jung was talking to a friend of hers and she joined their conversation. After her friend walked away, Jung made "inappropriate comments" to her. The woman said Jung slapped her buttocks as she walked away, the document said.

The woman later posed for a group photo at the event. Jung jumped into the frame at the last moment, stood behind her and reached under her clothing to touch her buttocks and genitals, the complaint said.

More than a dozen letters of support for Jung — from fellow detectives, police officers and members of his family — were filed with Wagner's office ahead of Thursday's sentencing. They urged the judge to show leniency.

In court, Jung, a 15-year veteran of the department, said he sometimes develops a "facetious sense of humor" when he drinks, but that he's not the person that has been portrayed in the media and in court filings.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee detective gets suspended jail sentence for groping coworker