By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
The director of the Iron County Children’s Justice Center was fired last week, a move she says was retaliation for pushing back against an investigation tactic proposed by the Iron County Attorney’s Office in a child abuse case. County officials deny the claim, saying her termination was unrelated.
Wendy Jessen, who has served as the center’s director since 2022, issued a prepared statement Saturday on social media and to local news outlets, stating she was fired Thursday for insubordination.
The termination, she said, followed her objections to the use of a pretext call — a law enforcement technique in which a victim or someone close to them calls a suspect in an effort to elicit incriminating statements.
Jessen contends that in a recent case involving a six-year-old victim, the Iron County Attorney Chief Deputy Shane Klenk wanted the child to make such a call. She described the approach as both ethically and legally troubling.
“A six-year-old child should never be used as bait in a pretext phone call by being forced to call their abuser as a trick to attempt to get stronger evidence,” Jessen stated. “This revictimization is morally and ethically reprehensible at best and is legally questionable, at worst.”
Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson, who oversees the Children’s Justice Center, disputes Jessen’s account and said her termination had nothing to do with the concerns she raised.
“Wendy Jessen’s claims about the reasons she was terminated are untrue,” Dotson said. “There was never a time where she told me ‘no’ as she describes in her social media post. She also knows that I have never forced a child to make a pretext call, including the one she mentioned on Facebook.”
Dotson also pushed back against Jessen’s criticism of pretext calls, stating that they are a widely accepted investigative tool in sexual abuse cases and have been instrumental in securing convictions.
“She knows that pretext calls are a valuable tool in sexual abuse investigations,” he said. “At last year’s CJC Symposium in Utah, an investigator from Dallas, TX, gave a terrific training on their effectiveness. Several predators in Iron County have been sent to prison for a long time based on their use.
Law enforcement officials generally keep investigative tactics private, arguing that disclosing methods such as pretext calls could make suspects more cautious and hinder future cases.
Dotson further criticized Jessen for publicly discussing an active case.
“She knows that the case she referenced on Facebook is still under investigation, that law enforcement is collaborating with prosecutors on our next steps. It is unfortunate she has chosen to reference it openly in the public because this could ultimately jeopardize those efforts,” Dotson said.
The Iron County Attorney’s Office issued a brief formal statement regarding Jessen’s termination, stating that the county is unable to fully respond due to potential litigation.
“Iron County is limited on what we can say to defend the charges Ms. Jessen has made, due to her threatened litigation against the county,” the statement read. “However, her claims about the reason she was fired are untrue.”
Jessen’s husband, Dan Jessen, said his wife’s termination was a direct result of her challenging the county attorney’s office over the handling of child abuse cases.
“Despite a perfect recent performance evaluation, and despite running the center in an amazing way — she’s literally getting ‘Woman of the Year’ in two weeks — Chad Dotson and Chief Deputy Shane Klenk got angry when Wendy stood up to them when they went too far,” he said.
Jessen said his wife’s concerns were shared by others involved in the investigation.
“Wendy’s employee, the detectives involved, and DCFS all argued against what Shane wanted to do,” he said.
Jessen’s firing marks the second leadership shakeup at the center in recent years. Her predecessor, Stephanie Ann Ward-Furnival, was also fired on Aug. 10, 2022, after more than 20 years in the role. She later pleaded guilty to theft and misusing public funds for submitting over two dozen fraudulent mileage reimbursement claims in 2020 and 2021 for meetings that were either held virtually or that she did not attend.