Former Radio Milwaukee Executive Director Jordan Lee, charged last month with sexually assaulting a child, was arrested in November 2025 for the same crime but held onto his job for another eight months before his employment at the station ended on July 23.
A Radio Milwaukee spokesperson said in response to questions from Milwaukee Magazine that the organization made no initial attempt to remove Lee from his job because the station wasn’t aware of the true nature of Lee’s arrest, because Lee was on leave at the time and because the allegation was a domestic matter not related to his work. It also cited a Wisconsin law protecting employees who have been arrested or convicted of crimes.
“Radio Milwaukee cannot get into detailed employment matters, and given that this is still an active investigation, (it) must also be careful not to interfere with that process,” the Radio Milwaukee spokesperson wrote in an email. The organization declined a request to interview interim executive director Maggie Corry and Al Orr, chairman of the station’s board of directors.
A criminal complaint filed on Aug. 4 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court charges Lee, 44, with one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 12 for an alleged incident about a year earlier. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 25 years if he is convicted. The alleged victim is a girl known to Lee.
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Lee made an initial court appearance on Aug. 10. On Sept. 9, a day before his scheduled preliminary hearing, Lee’s attorney filed a motion to have the case dismissed; a hearing on that request is scheduled for Sept. 28. Lee has not yet entered a plea to the charge and remains free after posting $50,000 cash bond.
Lee, a Kenosha native, spent more than 16 years across two stints at Radio Milwaukee, including serving in various leadership roles, before becoming executive director in April 2025.
In November 2025, according to a statement from the Radio Milwaukee spokesperson, Lee was on leave attending to health and personal matters. (Lee told Milwaukee Magazine in an article that ran in the August print edition that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.) “It was during this time that Jordan made the board aware that he was arrested and released, stating that the arrest was related to a domestic matter,” the statement says.
“As this did not pertain to his work at Radio Milwaukee and because no charges were filed and there was no known history of other arrests, nor known history of employment-related concerns, and given Wisconsin’s strict arrest and conviction employment laws, the station was left without recourse,” the Radio Milwaukee statement says.
Under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, employers are generally prohibited from firing an employee because of an arrest or conviction unless the offense is “substantially related” to the specific duties and circumstances of the job.
“Radio Milwaukee didn’t – and still does not – have any formal documentation regarding that arrest, nor did law enforcement or prosecutors contact Radio Milwaukee,” the statement goes on to say.
A Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office arrest and detention report, as well as booking photos obtained by Milwaukee Magazine, show that Lee was arrested on Nov. 13, 2025, with the clearly stated possible charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.
The Radio Milwaukee spokesperson said that in mid-to-late July, Lee informed the board of a second arrest – on July 13, according to the Sheriff’s Office – and the general nature of the expected charge. Lee had returned to work at Radio Milwaukee after the first arrest but was again on leave at the time of the second arrest, according to the spokesperson, who declined to provide more detail about when he returned from the first leave and began the second.
“While the board’s understanding of the underlying facts was limited, it became clear that Jordan could no longer serve as executive director (he remained on leave at this point and the organization was operating without his involvement),” the statement says. (The parenthetical and those that follow are included in the station’s statement.) “The board was unaware of the details of the allegations against him until the actual charges were filed and made public. The board – like so many others – was shocked and horrified by what the charges entailed. We continue to be deeply concerned for the victims named in the complaint and have been reminded how the public nature of this terrible matter has likely only deepened their trauma.”
Lee and Radio Milwaukee mutually agreed to end his employment on July 23, the spokesperson said.
“When it became clear that Jordan could no longer serve in the role entrusted to him, the board took action to protect the organization,” the statement says. “While the board continues to have no reason to believe the behaviors described in the complaint involved Jordan’s professional life (and to-date has not been contacted by law enforcement), they want to know if employees feel otherwise and have ensured they have a third-party resource to report (anonymously, if they would like) any concerns.”
The Radio Milwaukee board was unaware of any such reports being filed as of mid-September, the statement says.
Lee first joined Radio Milwaukee in 2008, a year after it launched, as a morning show host. Three years later, he moved to assistant program director before becoming program director and station director. Lee also helped create and launch HYFIN, Radio Milwaukee’s service dedicated to Black music and culture. After nearly two years with a media consulting firm, he returned to the station in November 2023. Lee took over as executive director on an interim basis in January 2025 and permanently three months later.
The turmoil will leave Radio Milwaukee searching for its fourth executive director in four years. The board plans to address that when “the time is right,” the statement says. “Maggie Corry has the board’s full support as she continues to serve as the interim executive director. The Radio Milwaukee team’s focus remains on supporting each other, local artists and the members and donors who love and support great local programming.”
