The case against Nathaniel Erfurth took a dramatic turn on Wednesday, Jan. 10 when the attorney representing the former Soldotna Highschool teacher and KPBSD Teacher’s Union Head filed a motion with the court to dismiss Erfurth’s entire case.
Erfurth, 35, of Soldotna, is accused of sexually assaulting a former student when she was under the age of 18 and earlier this year received a 61-count, grand jury indictment. Erfurth’s attorney, Eric Derleth, filed Wednesday’s motion on grounds that the grand jury was presented with “false and misleading evidence.”
“I filed a motion to dismiss his indictment because the state of Alaska presented false testimony that he allegedly confessed to having a sexual relationship with a former student,” Derleth told KSRM. “The truth is that the police secretly recorded him denying any relationship dozens of times during the span of about four hours. The state also intentionally withheld from the grand jury other crucial evidence that would help prove Mr. Erfurth’s innocence on all the charges.”
Erfurth was arrested in May after the student who is accusing him of a sexual relationship, which she claims took place between 2017 and 2019, came forward about the alleged abuse.
Derleth believes the state’s case against Erfurth is weak, primarily because, according to Derleth, it is based solely on the word of the former student. “The state of Alaska’s prosecution of Nathan Erfurth is quite weak because it entirely hinges on the word of one and only one witness, who herself has a history of compulsive lying.”
According to Derleth, he anticipates the court will drop “some or all” of the case against Erfurth once the evidence he submitted on Wednesday is reviewed. “After a full and fair review of the evidence submitted to the grand jury, Mr. Erfurth expects the court to dismiss some or all of the charges against him. It is not entirely clear what would happen after that point, because it would depend largely on what the court rules.”
Erfurth’s trial is scheduled to begin April 15th.