Former Colorado Springs bible study teacher pleads guilty to sexually assaulting child

Zachary Dupont, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·2 min read
58

Jan. 17—A former Colorado Springs Bible study teacher, Carlton Ranquist, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child on Tuesday afternoon.

Ranquist was accused of using a position of trust with the victim's family to sexually assault a child under the age of 15. Judge Marcus Henson said the abuse potentially ranged between the years of 2015 to 2019.

On Tuesday, Ranquist accepted a plea deal that saw him plead guilty to just one of the nine charges he initially faced, sexual assault against a child under the age of 15 as a pattern of abuse by a person of trust. The remaining eight charges will all be dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Ranquist admitted his guilt to the court on Tuesday stating he was guilty of "having sexual conduct" with a girl under the age of 15 for several months during the year 2017.

For pleading guilty, Ranquist is now facing a mandatory indeterminate sentence in the Department of Corrections to be decided by Judge Henson at a sentencing date in April. Henson stated that Ranquist faces the possibility of being given a sentence of life in prison.

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Ranquist was arrested in Maine on suspicion of sexual assault against a minor in June 2022, and extradited back to El Paso County.

Previous reporting from The Gazette details how Ranquist moved from Colorado Springs to Maine in 2020, and that he volunteered as a Bible study teacher in 2013 at Colorado Springs Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Police said at the time of the arrest that another victim may have been harmed by Ranquist in Colorado Springs between the years of 2008 and 2010. Five charges Ranquist faced prior to accepting the plea deal have an offense date listed between 2006 and 2012, but all five of those charges have been dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Ranquist currently resides in El Paso County jail on a $25,000 bond. He will return to court on April 11, for his sentencing hearing.