Former student's sexual abuse allegations against St. George teacher may not be 'isolated incident,' prosecutor says

A St. George teacher has been charged with the decades-old sexual abuse of a former 4th grade student, which allegedly occurred multiple times behind his desk in his classroom.

The woman reported to police on Dec. 18 that Curtis Payne, now 59, “molested” her while she was a student at Sunset Elementary School in the late 90s, according to charging documents.

He was charged Tuesday in Utah’s 5th District Court with three counts of aggravated sex abuse of a minor, a first-degree felony.

Payne began teaching choir classes at Sunrise Ridge Intermediate school in August, but spent most of his 32-year career at the elementary school, Washington County School District spokesman Steve Dunham said.

Although Deputy Washington County Attorney Zach Weiland declined to comment on whether more victims had come forward, he did say, “We don’t believe this was an isolated incident.”

“This is a challenging case, but we believe that we have enough evidence to go forward,” he said.

The woman told investigators Payne would touch her inappropriately while she sat on his lap behind his desk. That happened three or four times, she said.

She also said that Payne sat next to her several times when the class was watching a movie and groped her. She described another incident where he allegedly touched her inappropriately beneath her bathing suit during a pool party at someone’s house, according to court documents.

Dunham said that the prior to this report, school district officials hadn’t heard of any allegations against Payne. Dunham said officials were surprised.

“For us, it’s horrific to think, like in this case, that a victim has been dealing with this pain for years and years. You don’t want anybody to have to keep that inside,” Dunham said. “Hopefully they can find healing.”

When police interviewed Payne on Tuesday he said he remembered the girl being in his class, but denied that he’d sexually abused her.

Payne was booked into the Washington County jail that day. He posted bail and was released Wednesday afternoon. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 6.

Weiland encouraged any other victims to come forward and contact the district attorney’s office at 435-634-5723 or St. George Police at 435-627-4300.