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Bail increased for former LDS primary teacher accused of sexually abusing child

Posted at 11:46 AM, Jun 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-27 13:46:48-04

WEST JORDAN, Utah -- A man who formerly served as an LDS primary teacher was in court Wednesday for an initial appearance on five counts of sexual abuse of a child.

Sean Sund, 45, is accused of abusing an 8-year-old girl he met through his position as a primary teacher with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sund was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs and is heading back to jail after the judge increased his bond from $100,000 to $250,000.

Sund was also ordered to surrender his passport and to not have any contact with the alleged victim in this case or her family.

The charges stem from an alleged incident at the suspect’s West Jordan home during a sleepover with the 8-year-old, who says Sund sexually molested her while she pretended to be asleep.

Prosecutors are concerned that those who support Sund are trying to put pressure on the victim’s family within their own Micronesian, LDS community.

Meanwhile, detectives fear there may be other victims out there. Sund's lawyer, Clayton Simms, said those fears are unfounded.

"You use the terms 'victims' incorrectly, when there is only one alleged victim," he said. "That may influence the judge. When you speculate and you say, 'Oh, there's these other people out there', that may influence the judge. But, at the end of the day, that's not true. They've interviewed people who have said, 'Absolutely not, Sean has not done this.' He didn't do it in this particular case, he hasn't done it in other cases."

There was drama outside the courtroom following the hearing when Sean Sund’s mother collapsed in the hallway. There were also members of the local Micronesian LDS community who were very disappointed with the outcome of Wednesday's hearing, folks who support Sean Sund.

Meanwhile, Simms says that Sund will post his new bond amount even though he feels it is very high. He also says they look forward to their day in court to prove the allegations here are false.

Police continue to investigate and Sean Sund is due back in court July 12.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Sund's bail was increased to $500,000 rather than to $250,000. Fox 13 News regrets the error.