David Crowley, the Democratic Milwaukee County executive running for governor of Wisconsin, praised a local nonprofit’s vision at a 2024 gala, despite its founder having previously floated a plan to build a residential community specifically for released sex offenders.

“Dr. Whitehead, Milwaukee County, we share in your vision,” Crowley said while addressing Shawna Whitehead, founder of the It Takes a Village Foundation, during the organization’s November 2024 annual gala.

Crowley used his remarks to highlight workforce development, affordable housing, mental health services and substance abuse treatment, saying Milwaukee County would stand alongside the organization in those efforts. But Whitehead had described a far more controversial housing proposal in a 2022 podcast interview, saying she wanted to bring partners together to purchase land and build houses to “create a whole community for our sex offenders.”

Whitehead said she was troubled that sex offenders leaving jail often had nowhere to live. The proposal raises questions about the kind of residential community she envisioned and whether the foundation ever took steps to make it a reality. There is no indication Crowley specifically endorsed that plan, and he did not mention it during his gala speech.

Still, Crowley’s declaration that the county shared Whitehead’s vision has drawn attention to the group’s work and its record. The foundation, established in 2020, says it has helped nearly 4,000 formerly incarcerated people reenter society through services that include job training and housing assistance.

The organization’s website features a testimonial from a man convicted in 2002 of first-degree sexual assault of a child. The state’s sex offender registry lists the man as noncompliant with registration requirements, according to the report. Court records show he was convicted of a registry violation in 2017 and charged again in 2024, when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The foundation did not respond to questions about whether it knew of the man’s registry status, and it remains unclear when he completed the program. The case adds scrutiny to the organization’s work with former inmates, particularly as its founder’s past comments about housing sex offenders come under renewed attention.

Crowley is seeking to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is not running for a third term. His Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Tiffany, has made public safety a central theme of his campaign and has criticized Crowley’s record on criminal justice.

At a recent event celebrating an endorsement from the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, Tiffany faulted Crowley for supporting lower penalties for bail jumping and opposing a proposal that would allow judges to consider a defendant’s criminal history and public safety risk when setting bail.

The controversy gives Republicans another issue to raise as voters weigh the candidates’ approaches to criminal justice. Crowley’s remarks do not establish that he supported a dedicated housing community for sex offenders, but his public praise for the foundation comes as questions persist about its founder’s earlier proposal and the organization’s work with convicted offenders.

Wisconsin voters will choose their next governor on Nov. 3.