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KOOSHAREM, Sevier County — A former employee of a southern Utah residential treatment ranch for boys has been charged in California with multiple counts of having sex with a minor.
Wendi Sorenson, 39, of Koosharem, was charged Dec. 2 in Tulare County Superior Court District with three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 18, four counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, contact with a minor for sexual offense, meeting with a minor for lewd purposes and arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes.
According to charging documents, the alleged victim was under 16 years old and the conduct happened sometime between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1. She was arrested on Dec. 3, according to court papers filed in Utah's 6th District Court.
On Tuesday, Sorenson signed court papers in Sevier County waiving extradition to California.
Sorenson worked at the High Top Boys Ranch in Koosharem, reportedly as an instructor. A spokesman for the ranch told the Deseret News Tuesday that she had been fired several months ago. The spokesman said the alleged victim is a boy who had previously been at the ranch.
According to its website, the High Top Boys Ranch "is the only program in the country to specialize in residential treatment for boys ages 8 to 14. Located on 200 acres in the south-central Utah mountain country of Koosharem, this working cattle and horse ranch has been in the Sorenson family for three generations."
