Testimony of Texas victims sought in trial

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 11:31 a.m.

When Larry Wisenbaker stands trial on child molestation charges, he may not be facing just the 16 boys from St. Jude's Ranch in Boulder City who say the burly counselor victimized them.

Deputy District Attorney Gerald Gardner also wants the jury to hear about four boys at the West Texas Boys Ranch in San Angelo, Texas, who also claim Wisenbaker fondled them when he worked there in January 1998.

In addition, he is seeking the testimony of three boys at the Presbyterian Children's Home in San Antonio who contend that between March 1997 and January 1998 Wisenbaker sexually abused them.

Between January and March 1997, a then-16-year-old boy has alleged, he was molested at the Star Ranch in Ingram, Texas, by Wisenbaker, who was employed as a house parent there.

He was the oldest of the 21 victims in two states. The youngest was 9 years old.

The stories of the boys all told of a person in authority who used his power, position and size to brazenly fondle or sexually assault them, even if they protested.

"I know you're going to feel guilty, but you'll get over it," Wisenbaker was quoted by a 14-year-old boy as saying.

Of the 16 St. Jude's Ranch victims, 12 were residents there and four were Boulder City boys who were visiting.

"The state submits that Larry Wisenbaker is a serial child molester who has been preying upon vulnerable boys in a strikingly similar manner for years," Gardner stated in his motion to present "evidence of other crimes, acts and wrongs."

Testimony from the Texas boys, the prosecutor said, "will reveal an overwhelming consistent pattern of sexual abuse between the incidents in Texas and the Nevada offenses."

A hearing on the issue has been set for Aug. 26 in District Judge Kathy Hardcastle's courtroom.

Gardner portrayed Wisenbaker, who is 6-foot-4-inches tall and weighs nearly 400 pounds, as a calculating predator with "an insidious modus operandi" who escaped detection for years.

"Wisenbaker engaged in a long term and consistent effort to molest and sexually assault young males," the prosecutor stated in his motion. "He obtained employment in youth facilities and camps which put him in close, private and unrestricted contact with young, vulnerable boys."

Gardner said Wisenbaker hosted late night movie sessions that let the boys stay up so late "it became easier to molest them once they had fallen asleep or were too tired to fully appreciate what he was doing."

Gardner said that Wisenbaker already has claimed the Nevada allegations are part of a conspiracy by the boys at St. Jude's Ranch to get him fired from his job there because he was too strict.

"The threat of a conspiracy theory or mass false accusation theory is a very real one in a case such as this," the prosecutor said.

The best way for the state to counter that approach by the defense, he said, is to present "the compelling evidence ... of sexual abuse that has surfaced in Texas."

Boulder City Police Detective Kristine Smallwood said earlier this year that although authorities in the west Texas town had investigated complaints against Wisenbaker, 34, formal charges were never filed because Wisenbaker left the state.