A former Soldotna High School teacher and local teacher’s union president went to trial in Kenai on Monday. Thirty-seven year old Nathan Erfurth faces 55 charges in the case including sexual abuse of a minor in multiple degrees and unlawful exploitation of a minor.
Alaska State Troopers arrested Erfurth in 2023 after one of his former students reported she’d had a sexual relationship with Erfurth when she was a minor.
Erfurth is a former history and government teacher at Soldotna High School and president of the Kenai Peninsula Education Association. He was fired by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and removed as head of the teacher’s union after his arrest.
On Monday, Superior Court Judge Kelly Lawson heard outstanding motions in the case and then reviewed juror questionnaires with Erfurth’s attorney and the district attorney. Of the 40 jurors called, the parties excused nine, many of whom they felt demonstrated prejudice in the case.
Erfurth initially faced 61 charges. But last year, the judge dropped six relating to possession of child pornography, ruling the state lacked sufficient evidence to support the indictment on those counts.
Erfurth has pleaded not guilty and was released on house arrest with third-party custodians. Eric Derleth, Erfurth’s lawyer says he’s being falsely accused.
Last year, his lawyer tried to get the case dismissed, arguing investigators cherry picked information to present to grand jurors. And Erfurth has filed his own defamation suit against the former student. That case is on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial.
Erfurth affirmed to Lawson on Monday he wants to go to trial rather than take a plea deal offered by the state. District Attorney Dan Strigle told KDLL Monday the terms of that offer are not public.
The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning with jury selection.
