Teacher charged in abuse case

A popular third-grade teacher at East Elementary in Tooele was charged Monday with eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Christopher Burton, 25, is scheduled to make his first court appearance today at the Tooele County Courthouse.

Burton is accused of touching eight third-grade students between Aug. 21, 2006, and March 30. The charges list the victims as John Does and don't specify gender. The county attorney's office Monday did not say if the victims were a mix of boys and girls or all of one gender in order to protect the students.

Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan also said Monday that some of the the victims were abused more than once.

He is accused of "taking indecent liberties by placing a student on his lap, placing his hand(s) in the pocket of the student and then rubbing the student's genitalia," according to court documents.

All of the abuse occurred in Burton's classroom Hogan said, although he would not say Monday whether each victim was one of his students.

Burton has taught at East Elementary School, 135 S. 700 East, for three years. He was a sixth-grade teacher for the first two years and started teaching third grade this year. He was suspended from the classroom March 31 after a student told his parents that he saw inappropriate touching of another student in the classroom. The parents called police.

Burton was arrested last Thursday. Even after news of Burton's arrest broke on Friday, many parents and some students voiced support for Burton, calling him their favorite teacher and saying that they didn't believe the allegations.

The school district, however, said Burton allegedly manipulated and "groomed" students, parents and even other faculty members into believing he was a good guy.

Hogan said more interviews were scheduled to be conducted, although he did not know Monday if the people being interviewed were witnesses or more victims.

Now that charges had been filed, he said, if there are other victims, they might be comfortable stepping forward, including older students from previous years.

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