Former caretaker pleads guilty to youth sex offenses

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999 | 10:42 a.m.

A former caretaker at a home for abused children faces a life prison sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting seven youths.

Larry Wisenbaker, 34, entered guilty pleas Tuesday, the day a jury was to be selected for his trial.

The plea came a day after youths who claimed Wisenbaker assaulted them in Texas testified in a closed door hearing. The testimony apparently prompted Wisenbaker to reconsider a plea agreement he had rejected a week earlier.

"It was very powerful testimony. You could see a serious psychological impact on some of the kids," Deputy District Attorney Gerald Gardner said.

The Texas native faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 years when he is sentenced on Jan. 19.

Wisenbaker was hired as a cottage parent at St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City in May 1998. In his position, he had direct supervision over boys at the residential treatment center.

Because he had no prior criminal record, he passed a background check conducted by St. Jude's authorities.

Reports of prior incidents, though, surfaced after Wisenbaker was arrested in April. Wisenbaker had been the subject of sexual abuse allegations, but had never been charged, according to Texas authorities.

Prosecutors had planned to call young boys, who say Wisenbaker sexually abused them while working at four residential homes in Texas, as witnesses. The youths testified in a closed-door evidentiary hearing that began Monday.

Wisenbaker had claimed the Boulder City victims made up the stories of abuse as revenge for his strong disciplinary tactics.

Wisenbaker pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault involving a minor under the age of 14; one count of sexual assault involving a child under the age of 16; three counts of lewdness with a minor; and one count of open or gross lewdness with a minor.