Sterling Van Wagenen, left, pleads guilty during his initial appearance in American Fork, Utah, on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Prosecutors charged Van Wagenen earlier this month on accusations that he inappropriately touched a young girl on two occasions between 2013 and 2015. The 71-year-old co-founded a Utah film festival that came to be known as Sundance Film Festival with Robert Redford, but hasn't been with the organization for more than two decades. (Rick Egan /The Salt Lake Tribune, via AP, Pool)

Sundance co-founder pleads guilty to 2nd count of sex abuse

By The Associated Press May 2, 2019 at 2:34pm

WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) — A Utah filmmaker who co-founded the Sundance Film Festival and produced a movie whose lead actress won an Oscar in the mid-1980s has pleaded guilty to a second count of sexual abuse of a child in a deal with prosecutors.

Sterling Van Wagenen entered the plea during a hearing Thursday in a Salt Lake City suburb to complete a deal that calls for a prison sentence of at least six years.

Prosecutors say Van Wagenen touched a young girl on two occasions between 2013 and 2015. Both criminal counts involve the same victim.

The 71-year-old co-founded a Utah film festival with Robert Redford that came to be known as Sundance Film Festival but hasn’t been with the organization for more than two decades.

Van Wagenen was a producer on the 1985 film “The Trip to Bountiful.”

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