WASATCH COUNTY, Utah - An award-winning Utah educator waived his preliminary hearing on child sex abuse charges on Thursday.
On Thursday, 66-year-old Charles Weber, the former principal of Soldier Hollow Charter School in Wasatch County, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on forcible sodomy charges for an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old Soldier Hollow student last year.
Charging documents indicate that Weber admitted to investigators that he had been sexually abusing boys over the past 35 years.
The investigation started in 2012 when a former elementary school student of Weber's told FBI agents that Weber molested him repeatedly during the mid-1970s, when the alleged victim was between 11 and 13 years old.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Paul Aman says the hearing is a step towards resolving the case without requiring the alleged victims to testify.
"I have generated a plea agreement and tendered that to opposing counsel," Aman said. "He wants more of an opportunity to go over that with his client and discuss the ramifications of it."
Weber remains in jail on $1 million bail. He still has the option to take his case to trial, but attorneys believe some sort of plea deal will be reached within the next few months.
Weber was terminated from his position of principal at Soldier Hollow Charter School in August 2012, but officials say the termination was unrelated to the sex abuse allegations.
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