Greybull area rancher facing sexual assault charges

A Shell Valley ranching man faces potential felony charges stemming from an alleged 2006 incident involving sexual assault of a minor. Only redacted documents were available in accordance with state statute that protects the names of alleged actors and victims in sexual assault cases from the public prior to filing of information or indictment; officials referred to the defendant, witnesses and alleged victim by initials in court proceedings. 

Though the Standard has been able to independently verify the accused, at the advice of our attorney, that information will remain unpublished until district court arraignment. After a preliminary hearing on Monday, May 4, Circuit Court Judge Ed Luhm found probable cause and bound the case over to district court. 

Originally, charging documents filed April 17 in Big Horn County Circuit Court by county and prosecuting attorney Marcia Bean stated that the defendant is subject to either one count of sexual assault in the second degree and one count of sexual assault in the third degree or, alternatively, one count of sexual assault in the third degree. This was later amended at the defendant’s April 24 initial appearance to sexual assault in the second degree or, alternatively, sexual assault in the third degree. All charges stem from the same alleged incident occurring between May 2006 and July 2006.

The redacted affidavit, prepared by Big Horn County Deputy Sheriff and Sergeant Jeff Angell, reports that the alleged incident resurfaced through a Facebook post. A woman called Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 21, 2026, to report that she had answered an online advertisement by the accused for work as a ranch hand and traveled from Michigan to Wyoming to work for him. 

“[The reporting party] told me when she arrived, she met [the defendant] and the property was not what she expected, nor what she was told,” Angell wrote. “She told me that [the defendant] was inappropriate and mean to her, so after three days she left the area.”

The affidavit states that about two days later, the woman posted to a “Ranch Hand Hiring” Facebook page and several others like it alerting users that the accused was a dangerous individual and it was not safe for young girls to work on his ranch. She received a response from the alleged victim in this case, who reportedly told her the accused had sexually assaulted her when she was working for him at his ranches between Greybull and Shell at 13 years old. 

In September 2018, the victim’s mother had called Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office to report that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the accused while working on ranches in Big Horn County in the summer of 2006. Angell was assigned the case and met with the victim in Casper 

Initially, the victim reported she had been receiving rides to the ranch from two other workers. When the other workers quit after two to three weeks, the accused allegedly wanted the victim to stay overnight at the ranch, with each of them in separate houses, which he okayed with the victim’s mother. The victim stated that after she went to bed, the accused entered the house, got into the bed with her and began touching her. Allegedly, the accused digitally penetrated the victim, whispering to her that he wished she was older. 

The victim reported that she wanted to leave, but because it was nighttime in the middle of nowhere, she stayed until the next day, when the accused gave her a ride home. She stated that she never went back, despite calls from the accused. 

Angell contacted the victim again after speaking with the reporting party earlier this year, and she agreed to a formal interview in Casper. March 2, 2026, Angell met with the victim, and she stated she would like to pursue the case further. Angell testified in Monday’s preliminary hearing that the reason the case had not proceeded at that time was that the victim stopped returning his calls, which he stated is common in sexual assault cases. She reportedly told Angell she had been going through a rough patch in her life during that time.  

The victim retold her story, adding that after working for the accused the day of the alleged incident, she went to her cabin and could see the accused on a tractor from her window. She had a bad feeling, and reportedly showered with her shirt and pants on. In her retelling of the alleged assault, which held largely the same information, she stated, “[The accused] did everything to her short of forcing her to have sexual intercourse.”

At Monday’s hearing, Angell clarified a mistake he had made in the affidavit that reported the victim had removed her own clothes before getting into bed; after reviewing interviews, he found the accused allegedly removed them. He added that directly after the alleged incident occurred, the victim went out of state to spend the summer with family. Prosecutors entered exhibits that identified the cabin where the alleged incident took place, as well as several other outbuildings on the property between Shell and Greybull the accused was leasing at the time; now, purportedly owns. 

Angell was able to contact one of the victim’s former coworkers, who corroborated details of the victim’s story, stating that the victim had told her the accused came to where she was sleeping and said, “I wish you were older.”

The accused, represented by attorney Chris King, attended via Zoom for both the initial appearance and preliminary hearing. Monday, during arguments, King asked that the charges be dismissed, alleging that the story could be manufactured by the reporting party to get back at the accused, with no corroboration available for the victim’s story. 

“What we’re dealing with now is a statement from 20 years ago,” King said. 

Bean rebutted that the case was initially reported in 2018, and that nothing if anything has changed from the original story. She found that the alleged victim’s former coworker provided corroboration and there was no evidence the reporting party had made the story up. 

“The story has not changed, the facts remain the same, 20 years later,” Bean said. 

Sexual assault in the second and third degrees both carry a sentence of not more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both. The defendant posted $75,000 bond prior to his initial appearance. The case will be transferred to district court, with a plea entered at that time.