A former Red Deer teacher facing sex-related charges will have a preliminary hearing next January.
Rhett Jeffrey Lundgren, 40, is accused of sexual exploitation and luring.
A local lawyer appeared as agent for Lundgren’s Regina-based lawyer in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday. Lundgren was not present.
Lundgren has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and elected to be tried in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench by a judge alone. No trial date has been set.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Red Deer. A preliminary hearing is held to determine if there is enough evidence to send a case to trial. It is often used to test the strength of a Crown prosecutor’s case.
RCMP laid the charges in January in connection with a 2009 incident after a woman came forward. She was 17 at the time of the alleged offence.
Lundgren was a teacher and football coach at Hunting Hills High School in 2007 and 2008.
Lundgren is also facing porn and sexual offence charges in Saskatoon, where he was teaching at Walter Murray Collegiate Institute High School.
He was arrested and charged last December with several offences. In January, he was arrested again and charged with additional sex- and pornography-related charges.