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SOUTH JORDAN — Criminal charges were filed Thursday against a former high school wrestling coach who was arrested in February and accused of inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old student.
Anthony Jordan Wanlass, 29, of South Jordan, is charged in 3rd District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and five counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony.
Wanlass, an assistant coach at Bingham High School, engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a 17-year-old student via Snapchat from October of 2021 through February, according to charging documents. A South Jordan police detective reviewed the girl's Snapchat account and in a folder labeled "my eyes only" reported finding 14 nude pictures of Wanlass.
On one occasion, Wanlass kissed the girl in an equipment closet at the school and exposed himself to her, the charges allege.
After the assistant principal received reports from several students that Wanlass was having an inappropriate relationship with a student, he met with the coach and immediately suspended him. According to the charges, while escorting Wanlass off campus and to his car, Wanlass apologized to the assistant principal for his "mistake" and said, "I am in trouble, aren't I?"
Wanlass was first arrested by South Jordan police on Feb. 19.
Following his arrest, the Jordan School District issued a brief statement, saying that Wanlass was an assistant wrestling coach but was no longer employed by the district. He worked for six years as a wrestling coach, but "did not work in any other capacity for us," the district said.
