Employee of children’s home faces sex charges

Jace Radke

Friday, April 30, 1999 | 11:34 a.m.

Boulder City's St. Jude's Ranch has been a haven for abused and neglected children for 30 years, but now police believe a ranch employee may have sexually abused at least nine children at the home over the last year.

Larry M. Wisenbaker, 34, was arrested by Boulder City Police Wednesday night after children at the home began coming forward and reporting they were abused, Detective Kristen Smallwood said.

Wisenbaker was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on nine charges of sexual assault, coercion, child abuse and lewdness -- all with boys under the age of 14. Bail has been set for Wisenbaker at over $1 million, Smallwood said.

"We still have a lot of kids to interview, so the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be pending," Smallwood said. "It's a tough investigation because all the victims so far have been pre-pubescent boys. At that age they are struggling with their sexuality anyway, without anything like this happening."

Wisenbaker worked as one of eight cottage supervisors at the ranch that can house up to 54 children. Wisenbaker had been working at the home for just less than a year.

"All of our workers go through comprehensive background checks including an FBI check, Boulder City Police check and Child Protective Services check," ranch spokeswoman Elaine Herman said. "All our workers are considered to be on a probationary period until they've been with us for a year."

Herman couldn't comment on Wisenbaker directly because of the ongoing investigation but said the ranch hires based on an applicant's ability to take care of and relate to children.

"We will be having counseling sessions and will be concentrating on healing at the ranch," Herman said. "Kids are very resilient even after they are abused, abandoned or neglected. We tap into that strength here at the ranch every day and that's what we will continue to do in light of this incident."

Former ranch spokeswoman Milli Clark was upset to hear that children at the ranch may have been victimized.

"I hate to see anything happen to those children," Clark said. "The home is a great place when it works. I don't understand how someone that could do that could slip through."

Herman said it isn't a case of someone slipping through but of something bad happening.

The 40-plus-acre ranch is located on the rocky foothills above Lake Mead just outside of Boulder City and cares for children ages 5-18. About 80 percent of the ranch's clients were sexually abused in their homes before coming to the ranch and about half have learning disabilities.

St. Jude's generates its funding through private donations, sales from its thrift store and gift shop and through the recycling of old greeting cards.

The children, earning 15 cents a card, cut and paste the fronts of used cards onto new cards and sell them nationwide.