RENO (AP) - A judge has set bail at $170,000 for a former top official at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management being held on charges of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at his home in Reno.
Reno Justice of the Peace Patricia Lynch told Ronald Wenker via a video hookup with the Washoe County Jail on Friday he can request a hearing to challenge the bail when he's formally arraigned on Monday.
Wenker faces four felony counts - two each for child sexual assault and lewdness. Detectives say he acknowledged having oral sex with the girl. She told police he'd been molesting her since she was eight.
Wenker became BLM's Nevada boss in 2005 and was acting U.S. director in 2009. He retired last year after 40 years at the agency.
