Former teacher to face sex trial

TOOELE — Christopher Burton, a former third-grade teacher charged with sexually fondling boys in his classroom, has been bound over for trial.

Burton, 26, is charged with eight counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child. A previous preliminary hearing on May 30 was continued on Friday so the judge could hear testimony from more witnesses.

Seven boys testified in person, and Burton's lawyers agreed that information from an eighth boy, who was unavailable, could be provided to the court through videotaped interviews with police and a sworn deposition.

Each boy described the same thing: Burton called them over to his desk when the other students were engaged in other activities or were watching a movie, told them to sit on his lap, put his hands in their pockets, and fondled them in a sexual fashion.

One boy said it happened once, another said twice, while others said this activity took place repeatedly throughout the school year.

Prosecutors insist that Burton worked to ingratiate himself with youngsters and took advantage of his position of trust as a teacher to groom them so he could exploit them sexually. Defense attorneys, however, suggest that young and impressionable minds could have been influenced by rumors and falsehoods that unfairly smeared a good teacher.

One mother tearfully testified Friday that her son began claiming to have stomach aches and nausea during the week but not on weekends — something she attributed to the family having just gotten cable TV. "I thought he wanted to stay home and watch TV," she said.

She sobbed as she recalled threatening her son that he might have to repeat third grade with Burton if the boy didn't stop missing school. The stomach aches stopped, but her son began wetting the bed, developed eczema on his face and went through bouts of unexplained anger, she said.

Teresa Francis taught in a third-grade classroom next to Burton's that was separated only by a curtain that often was opened to facilitate group activities. She testified she never saw Burton do anything inappropriate and the rooms had no hallway doors, so other students, teachers, librarians and parent volunteers could walk by or even come in anytime.

However, Francis said she actually saw Burton only about an hour a day, that he moved his desk a few times during the school year and the last move put his desk quite far from her line of vision. At one point, she noticed one of her students sitting on Burton's knee and gestured for the boy to return to her area. She said she didn't want her students bothering Burton but also admitted it made her uneasy that the boy was on Burton's lap.