Bingham High School is pictured. (Tom Smart/Deseret News)
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — A 29-year-old man has been taken into custody by South Jordan police after he was allegedly involved in an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student at Bingham High School.
According to the probable cause statement, Jordan Wanlass was serving as a wrestling coach at Bingham. In January, members of the wrestling team reported to school officials that Wanlass was doing inappropriate things to a female wrestler.
Additionally, the probable cause statement also says the wrestlers also informed school officials that the female wrestler had told them she was in a relationship with Wanlass. The probable cause statement further states that the female wrestler mentioned to her teammates that Wanlass was in a bad marriage, and she was trying to help him through it.
In the probable cause statement, the juvenile wrestlers went on to say that the female wrestler had sent them a message over Snapchat, saying she had performed a sexual act on Wanlass.
When asked by school administrators about the alleged events, the 17-year-old female refused to provide information. However, her parents gave school administrators permission to search her phone, according to the probable cause statement. The administrators found inappropriate images and conversations in the 17-year-old’s Snapchat.
Administrators told the school’s resource officer the conversation between Wanlass and the 17-year-old on Snapchat “eluded to a sexual relationship between the two,” according to the probable cause statement.
According to the probable cause statement, after a search warrant for her phone was issued, additional inappropriate images and videos of Wanlass were found on her phone.
In a statement to KSL on Tuesday, the Jordan School District announced Wanlass is no longer a district employee as a result of the alleged inappropriate relationship.
Wanlass has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail under investigation for sexual exploitation of a minor and entice of a minor by internet or text, both are second degree felonies. He was also booked under investigation for unlawful sexual conduct with 16-17-year-old and dealing in material harmful to minors, both third degree felonies.
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