Jury trials were set this month for two Moab men charged with multiple sex crimes against children, and a third man was arraigned on similar charges.

District Court Judge Boyd Bunnell set trial dates of April 24 and 25 for Calvin Harold Elkins, 48, of 1141 Lance Ave. Elkins was bound over to district court Dec. 2 and pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree felony sodomy on a child and one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.Elkins is free on $5,000 bail, set by Circuit Court Judge Bruce Halliday.

The court entered not-guilty pleas for Jimmy Ray Richardson, 53, of 207 N. Third East, and set trial for April 5-7 on charges of five counts of second-degree felony sexual abuse of a boy, now 12.

The incidents allegedly occurred in Moab between 1984 and 1986.

Ernest Steele, exact age unknown, of 307 Park Road, waived a preliminary hearing in 7th Circuit Court earlier this month on charges of two counts each of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse and sodomy on a child, and one count of rape of a child.

Steele was bound over Dec. 7 to 7th District Court and appeared for arraignment Dec. 12. The case was continued to Jan. 9, 1989. Steele is free on his own recognizance.

An 8-year-old girl and 10-year-old girl from the same family have accused Steele of sexually abusing them in Moab between Jan. 1, 1984, and Dec. 31, 1985, according to the complaint filed by the Grand County attorney's office.

Steele is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of sodomy involving one of the girls, and one count of sodomy and one of rape in the case of the other girl.

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Scott Mallon, assistant police chief in Moab, said the complaint does not say which of the girls alleges she was raped.

He said the complaint is based on information from Moab police officer Kerrie Hill and from an interview videotaped by a Social Services office in South Dakota, which was sent to the Moab Social Services Dept.

The incidents alleged by the victims were reported Sept. 26 to the Moab Police Department, Mallon said.

The Elkins case also involves two minors, the district clerk said. Elkins is charged with two counts of sodomy involving one of the children, and one count of aggravated sexual abuse of the other child, according to the complaint filed by the county attorney's office.

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