Riverton teacher is charged with 11 new sex-abuse counts

Eleven additional charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child were filed Friday against an award-winning teacher at Rosamond Elementary School.

Frank Laine Hall, 36, now faces a total of 14 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies. The new charges represent six additional victims, bringing the total to nine.

Originally, Hall was accused of putting his hand down the pants of three female students in his first-grade classroom, 12195 S. 1975 West, in Riverton. All of the approximately 20 students in his class are 6 or 7 years old.

The amended charges do not give details about the six additional victims, including whether they were his students or if the abuse occurred in his classroom.

However, 10 of the additional charges reflect allegations between July 1, 2006, and March 9, 2007, the day Hall was removed from the classroom, according to court documents.

The 11th new charge refers to an alleged incident at the school sometime between July 2005 and May 2006, or last school year, court documents stated. All 14 of the charges state the abuse happened on school property.

The sheriff's office could not speculate Friday whether deputies expected even more charges to be filed. But Lt. Paul Jaroscak said detectives were still actively working the case.

"We have not closed the investigation. We are still open to additional victims that might come forward," he said.

All six of the new victims came forward after Hall's arrest on their own free will, he said.

Wednesday night, parents of the students in Hall's classroom this year had a closed-door meeting with the school's first-year principal. The Jordan School District declined to publicly discuss the nature of the meeting or anything that was said, noting it was a private issue between the school and parents.

Hall remained in the Salt Lake County Jail Friday on $500,000 bail.

His family changed attorneys this week, opting to go with David Finlayson. Earlier this week, Hall's previous attorney, Craig Baimum, described him as being "shocked" by the allegations and not taking it well.

Some residents have contacted the sheriff's office, concerned that Hall's name is being tarnished.