Recovery specialist receives probation only in second sexual abuse case involving patient

By KAALTV

Amber Wenger / Olmsted County ADC

(ABC 6 News) – A Zumbrota woman convicted of sexually assaulting two patients at inpatient treatment facilities was sentenced to probation only in her second case Friday, Dec. 20.

Amber Ann Wenger, 35, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of 5th-degree criminal sexual conduct in her second case. She is already serving 5 years of probation in a nearly identical case.

Olmsted County judge Christa Daily granted Wenger a stay of imposition.

Her conviction will be reduced to a lower level if she completes her second 5-year probation sentence — ending Dec. 20, 2029 — without incident.

Wenger is not allowed to have contact with any vulnerable adults, as a condition of her probation.

—–PREVIOUS STORY—–

(ABC 6 News) – A Zumbrota woman appeared in Olmsted County Court Wednesday for a second sex abuse case involving a former patient.

Amber Ann Wenger, 34, previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a man seeking treatment at an Olmsted County inpatient facility where she worked in 2022.

According to court documents filed in November of 2023, in the course of the first investigation, Olmsted County law enforcement had obtained text messages alleging that Wenger had sexually assaulted a second man during her time at the inpatient facility.

Wenger was charged with 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct involving penetration–prohibited occupational relationship and 4th-degree criminal sexual contact after the second man allegedly spoke to law enforcement in October of 2023 — months after Wenger had been sentenced to house arrest and ordered to register as a predatory offender pursuant to the first case.

According to court documents, the second man said he was a patient at the inpatient facility in Sept. of 2022 and told police Wenger had flirted with him, then initiated a sexual encounter a few weeks into his stay.

Court documents state that investigators reached out to Wenger for a statement, but she did not provide one.

Wenger’s next Olmsted County hearing is scheduled for Feb. 29.