Christopher Burton, 26, is charged in 3rd District Court with eight counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child, each punishable by up to life in prison.

The preliminary hearing is set to continue next month for testimony from five other boys who are alleged victims.

The three boys who testified Wednesday all said Burton fondled them in a similar fashion.

As one boy put it: "He made people sit on his lap, then he'd reach his hands into your pockets and touch your privates."

The boy claimed Burton began fondling him in January, just a day after the boy began attending the school, and that the abuse occurred about once a week until Burton's arrest in March.

Another boy testified that Burton forced him to sit on his lap every time he asked the teacher a question. The boy said the touching began about a month after school started last fall.

The third boy - whose teacher was a female - testified he was molested by Burton on March 30 when the two classes combined to watch a movie.

The boy said he had asked permission to use the restÂroom when Burton asked him to sit with him. Burton put his hands into the pockets of the boy's green "Scout pants," and "started moving [the hands] around," the boy testified.

The boy reported the abuse to his mother that day. Police interviewed the boy the next day.

During the boy's recorded interview with police, he claimed Burton was "trying to," but never did, touch his "private parts." During court testimony, however, the boy said Burton did touch him, and that the touching lasted about 15 minutes.

The five other alleged victims are expected to testify when the hearing continues on June 22.

Defense attorneys Walter Bugden and Tara Isaacson told Judge Mark Kouris they plan to call a handful of children who told police they were not touched by Burton.

Bugden said he also would elicit testimony about how the alleged abuse was disclosed, "to see if the story has evolved over time and changed."

During cross-examination on Wednesday, the defense asked each boy who else they had talked to about the abuse, and about who had talked to them.

Burton was suspended from teaching on March 31 and fired on April 20. He has been at the Tooele County jail since April 26, where he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

shunt@sltrib.com