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PANGUITCH — A counselor at a Utah residential center for troubled teens faces serious charges of sex abuse that could land him in prison for the rest of his life, according to an amended criminal complaint.
Court records show Eric Allen Glosson now faces four counts of first-degree felony sodomy along with six other lesser felonies, including forcible sexual abuse, custodial relations with a youth receiving state services and dealing in materials harmful to minors.
Garfield County prosecutors filed the amended charges Wednesday in Panguitch's 6th District Court. A court clerk said copies of the new charges could not be released because they had been sealed.
Glosson was originally charged with 10 felonies, including eight counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
It was not clear Friday why four of the counts had been amended and a message left for Garfield County Attorney Barry Huntington was not immediately returned.
If convicted of the sodomy charges alone, Glosson could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Glosson's defense attorney, Dale Sessions, declined to comment on the case on Thursday.
An arraignment is set for Aug. 4. Glosson is being held in the Garfield County Jail.
An original court filing alleged the 28-year-old Tucson, Ariz., man had sexual contact with teens at Silverado Academy on at least nine occasions between April and June.
Silverado is owned by former Republican Utah U.S. Senate candidate Tim Bridgewater. Academy officials have declined to comment on Glosson's case beyond saying they are cooperating with law enforcement.
Within days of the police investigation's start, however, the boarding school was sued in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court by the families of three boys who claim they were abused by Glosson, who also served as an athletic coach at the center.
The lawsuit contends the boarding school failed to adequately supervise Glosson or protect the children.
In federal court papers, attorneys for the families contend Glosson was inappropriately allowed to meet privately with students over whom he had no coaching or supervisory duties and then used threats to keep the teens from disclosing the alleged abuse. It also states that school officials knew Glosson had spoken with police about an allegation that he had abused an Arizona teen, but failed to prevent his continued access to the students in Utah.
Glosson passed a criminal background check, which included an examination of the state child and elder abuse databases on May 11, department spokeswoman Elizabeth Sollis has said.
The checks are required for employees of any state licensed facility where employees work with or have contact with children, she said.
