Iron County attorney fires Children's Justice Center director; reasons in dispute

CEDAR CITY — Iron County Children's Justice Center Director Wendy Jessen has announced that she has been fired from her position.

In an email sent to news outlets on Saturday, Jessen said she was terminated on Thursday for insubordination by Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson.

The action stemmed from what Jessen described as "fundamental disagreements about the treatment of children while at the center."

In particular, Jessen cited the subject of pretext phone calls, which are calls that are set up and monitored by investigators between a crime victim and a suspect who does not know the conversation is being recorded.

"A 6-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 to be used in court," Jessen said in her written statement.

Contacted for comment on Saturday morning, Iron County Attorney's Office sent Cedar City News a written statement confirming Jessen's termination and disputing the reason.

"Wendy Jessen's employment as the Iron County Children's Justice Center Director was recently terminated," Iron County public information officer Trajan Evans confirmed in a text message. "The Iron County Attorney's Office regrets that Ms. Jessen has chosen to air her grievances in the public domain by sending a recent social media post to various news outlets."

Read the full article at St. George News.

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