Kenai jurors on Wednesday heard opening arguments in the State of Alaska’s case against a former Soldotna High School teacher accused of sexually abusing one of his former students while she was a minor. The trial started Monday and the 14-member jury panel was chosen Tuesday.
Thirty-seven year old Nathaniel Erfurth faces 55 charges, including sexual abuse of a minor in the second and fourth degrees and unlawful exploitation of a minor. The abuse is alleged to have occurred between September 2017 and September 2018, when the student attended Soldotna High School.
KDLL does not name victims of alleged sexual abuse.
Erfurth taught government and history at Soldotna High School and was serving as president of the local teacher’s union, the Kenai Peninsula Education Association, when he was arrested in 2023.
Shortly after, a Kenai Grand Jury indicted him on 61 charges. Erfurth pleaded not guilty and has filed a defamation suit against the former student. He’s been out on bail, under house arrest with third-party custodians. Six charges were dropped last summer after a judge determined there was insufficient evidence to charge Erfurth with possession of child pornography.
Prosecutors say Erfurth's alleged conduct is illegal because of the age difference between him and the former student, and because of the position of authority he held over her at the time of the alleged abuse.
Kenai Superior Court Judge Kelly Lawson explained to jurors how they’re supposed to decide on Erfurth’s guilt.
“It is not enough that you believe the defendant is probably or likely guilty, or even that the evidence shows a strong probability of guilt,” she said. “The law requires more. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof that overcomes any reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt.”
Dan Strigle is the district attorney prosecuting the case. He told jurors Erfurth used his position to gain the trust of and deceive the people around him while acting as a parental figure to the student.
“It was through that trust that he was able to convince members of this community, members responsible for protecting children, parents, teachers, others that what they saw wasn’t what they thought they saw,” he said.
Strigle discussed two previous investigations into Erfurth’s conduct with the student carried out by the Soldotna Police Department and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Charges weren’t filed in either case and the school district said Erfurth was “counseled” about his conduct, according to police reports.
Eric Derleth is Erfurth’s attorney. He told jurors he plans to challenge the credibility of the former student and the work of the Alaska State Trooper who investigated the case. Derleth argues the alleged sexual abuse didn’t happen, and that prosecutors cherry-picked the evidence presented to grand jurors.
“Part of what we'll show here is what I call negative space – what should exist if her story is true – that's not there,” Derleth said. “And I'll point out a lot of things that I call negative space.”
A key piece of evidence in the case is an audio recording of Erfurth and the former student. In it, prosecutors say he confesses. The former student secretly recorded it at the direction of state troopers while talking with Erfurth in person. Due to equipment failure, it’s difficult to discern what is being said.
In the recording, prosecutors say the former student asks Erfurth if he regrets sleeping with her. Erfurth responds affirmatively. Derleth agrees Erfurth responded affirmatively, but says he wasn’t asked about sleeping with her. Derleth says he responded to the question of whether he regrets taking the former student in, referencing the special attention he gave her while she was still a student.
In 2021, the school district implemented new Title IX policies mandated by the federal government – years after the two investigations it conducted into Erfurth’s alleged conduct. Administrators say they are confident the new guidelines will protect students. Multiple current and former school district employees appeared on a list of potential witnesses presented to jurors.
The state began questioning its first witness on Wednesday, the former student. But the proceedings were interrupted by a tsunami alert after an earthquake in the Aleutian Chain. The judge ended the trial day early. Proceedings are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
