COLORADO SPRINGS — An affidavit obtained by News 5 details the investigation that led to the arrest of Carlton Ranquist, a 63-year-old Bible studies professor, on two counts of sexually assaulting a child by a person in a position of trust and two counts of child sexual exploitation.
The affidavit says it started in July 2021 when the Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a sexual assault call. Upon arrival, a 15-year-old girl said she was sexually assaulted by Ranquist in her home. She said Ranquist would take pictures of her naked and lift her shirt and drop her pants to do it. She also told police that Ranquist had previously assaulted a man who was later identified as the second victim in the case. The man is now 23 years old.
The woman’s sexual assault happened between 2015 and 2017 when the victim was between 9 and 12 years old. The man’s sexual assault happened between 2008 and 2010 when the man was between 8 and 13 years old.
The woman told police the last time she remembered anything was when she was 12. She said that Ranquist would watch a lot of child pornography with her and make her perform sex acts on him. She said she was then assaulted multiple times by Ranquist up to five to eight times a month. She told police that Ranquist fed her, gave her money for chores and took her on walks.
In the affidavit, the man said he met Ranquist at church and that Ranquist was a mentor to him and that they would hang out at Ranquist’s apartment. The male victim said Ranquist would force him to perform sex acts and recalled that Ranquist took video of him performing a sex act on her. The male victim said that as he got older, Ranquist told him he had had sex with several young women before him.
A warrant was issued for Ranquist on April 13, 2022. Ranquist lived in St. Albans, Maine, and was arrested and taken into custody on April 20, 2022 by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.
Ranquist was extradited to Colorado Springs and is being held in the El Paso County Jail.
The investigation revealed that around 2013, Ranquist was living in Colorado Springs and volunteering at the Colorado Springs Central Adventist Church as a Bible study teacher.
CSPD Special Victims detectives are looking for more information, including potential unreported incidents involving the suspect.
If anyone has information or has been a victim of Ranquist, please call CSPD at 719-444-7000.
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