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CEDAR CITY — A former middle school counselor has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual battery and accessing pornography on school grounds.
Samuel Naim El-Halta, who worked as a counselor at Cedar Middle School prior to his arrest, pleaded guilty Thursday to nine class A misdemeanor charges: seven counts of sexual battery and two counts of accessing pornographic material on school property.
El-Halta, 40, was fired from his job with the school in November 2014 after 10 pornographic images were discovered on his computer at work. He was arrested and charged in February 2015.
In addition to the pornographic images discovered on El-Halta's school computer, a probable cause statement filed in court indicates El-Halta would brush or pat the bodies of female co-workers, claiming he touched them accidentally.
In one incident, court documents say El-Halta was posing for a photo with a woman in the Cedar Middle School office when he told her, "We're standing so close that I could grab your butt and no one would know." El-Halta then touched the woman inappropriately.
After pleading guilty Thursday, El-Halta was sentenced to 24 months of probation and 30 days in jail, beginning March 4, according to court documents. El-Halta will serve his time "in 48-hour increments" at the Juab County Jail beginning each Friday until the 30 days have been met.
