Man pleads guilty in sex abuse of student

A substitute teacher charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old female student pleaded guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanor charges.

Christopher Benjamin Page, 20, a former substitute teacher with the Granite School District, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, for a sexual encounter he had with a minor, court records state. Page was originally charged with forcible sexual abuse, a first-degree felony.

Officials said Page had first started working for the school district while he was still a student at Skyline High School. He worked sweeping the floors at Churchill Junior High School. That job helped him secure a position as a substitute teacher at the school.

Page taught only a few times before police said they found him in a "state of undress" in a car with a 13-year-old student in November 2008. Police said Page and the girl began texting about a month before the incident. Page's employment was terminated immediately after his arrest.

Police and school officials said at the time that they believe the encounter was an isolated event and there were no other victims.

Page will be sentenced Oct. 28.

— Emiley Morgan