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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- State agencies knew John Cottrell had sexually abused his stepdaughter, but no one told her school.
Cottrell picked up the girl at her school on Friday, drove her to the family's Eagle Mountain home, sexually abused her and then killed himself by driving head-on into a dump truck.
Cottrell also was as a backup coach on the girl's city-sponsored soccer team. There was no background check, though that is required for any parent who helps with coaching duties in the league.
Officials of the state Division of Child and Family Services, the courts, and the probation department all say it wasn't their job to notify the school that Cottrell was not supposed to have contact with the girl.
Several officials said they assumed the girl's mother was the one responsible for such notifications.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
