Man Sentenced For Abusive Sexual Contact With Child

In May 2007, Yosemite rangers received a report of past acts of sexual abuse against a child committed by Norman Chenowith, then 76. Chenowith had been a maintenance worker at Camp Wawona, a Seventh Day Adventist church camp that is on private property within the park, when the alleged abuse occurred. Special agent Daniel Horner was assigned as case agent. His investigation revealed that the sexual abuse of this particular victim began in 1995, when the victim was four years old, and continued for four years. Horner’s investigation further revealed other alleged incidents of sexual contact with different children. After a three-month-long investigation, Horner filed a criminal complaint charging Chenowith with 15 counts of abusive sexual conduct (18 USC 2244(a)(5)). Chenowith was arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury in Fresno on 18 counts of abusive sexual contact and ordered detained under supervised house arrest with electronic monitoring. Last December, Chenowith pled guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact with a minor under age 12. He was remanded to custody pending sentencing. On April 17th, he was sentenced to three years of incarceration, followed by five years of supervised release.