Sterling Van Wagenen
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Sterling Gray Van Wagenen (born July 2, 1947) is an American film and stage producer, writer, director, and convicted
sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a Sex and the law, sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convi ...
. He is a co-founder of the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
, and, in association with his former cousin-in-law
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...
, he was the founding executive director of the Sundance Institute. In 2019, Van Wagenen was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to six years to life in prison.


Career

He has directed four feature films as well as several documentaries and television episodes, and has produced over fourteen feature films, documentaries, and television series, including the Academy Award winning ''
The Trip to Bountiful ''The Trip to Bountiful'' is a 1985 American road drama film directed by Peter Masterson and starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay. It was adapted by Horton Foote from his 1953 play. Th ...
'', co-produced with
Horton Foote Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and the film, '' ...
and starring
Geraldine Page Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Geraldine Page, numer ...
and John Heard. He collaborated again with Foote on ''
Convicts A convict is "a person found Guilt (law), guilty of a crime and Sentence (law), sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a commo ...
'', starring
Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...
and
James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...
. In 1986, he and Foote were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as producers of ''The Trip to Bountiful'', and in 1987 they won a Wise Owl Award for the film. In 1992, he won a Crystal Heart Award as director of ''Alan and Naomi''. Van Wagenen's cousin Lola was married to Redford from 1958 to 1985. After 1993, Sterling Van Wagenen had no official connection with the Sundance Film Festival or Sundance Institute. From 1999 to 2004, he served as Director of the School of Film and Digital Media at the
University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...
. He was later Producer-in-Residence and faculty member at the University of Utah. Van Wagenen was the director of three films that were used in rotation from 2013 though January 2019 during the Endowment Ceremony in temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


Personal life

He is married to Marilee Jeppson, and they had six children and 20 grandchildren. Their first child, Sarah Ella Van Wagenen, born August 17, 1973, died on March 1, 2014, from cancer.


Sexual abuse conviction and imprisonment

On January 4, 2019, The Truth & Transparency Foundation, a nonprofit group formerly known as "MormonLeaks"
posted audio in which Sterling Van Wagenen holds a conversation with a man identified by the alias "David."
In the recording, Van Wagenen confesses to molesting the 13-year-old "David" in 1993 during a sleepover. At the time, Van Wagenen confessed the incident to his Stake President and a detective. According to a police report, no charges were filed in the case because the victim's parents declined to pursue them. Van Wagenen was disfellowshipped for 2 years by the
LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during ...
. On April 2, 2019, Van Wagenen was charged with the felony aggravated sexual abuse, in Salt Lake City, where he was released on a $75,000 bond. Van Wagenen is alleged to have molested a young girl some time between 2013 and 2015. The Sundance Institute issued a statement, saying: "Recent reports in the press have made us aware of allegations of sexual abuse by Sterling Van Wagenen, who played a role in founding both the Festival and the Institute. He has no current connection to either entity, and has since he left our Utah Advisory Board in 1993. Sundance Institute categorically denounces his behavior as described in recent reports, and we stand in solidarity with those whose brave truth-telling shines light on abusive behavior." On April 30, 2019, Van Wagenen pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. He was jailed for six years to life on July 2, 2019.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Wagenen, Sterling 21st-century American criminals Film directors from Utah American film producers American Latter Day Saints American people convicted of child sexual abuse Criminals from Utah Film festival founders Living people Sundance Film Festival 1947 births People from Utah Prisoners and detainees of Utah