Filmmaker sentenced again in second sexual abuse case

Filmmaker sentenced again in second sexual abuse case

WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) — A filmmaker who co-founded the Sundance Film Festival and produced a movie whose lead actress won an Oscar in the mid-1980s has been sentenced on a sexual abuse charge for the second time in as many weeks.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, the Tuesday sentence does not add any additional time to the six years-to-life term handed down to Sterling Van Wagenen last week.

But Judge Katie Bernards-Goodman says she would have added more time if the deal wasn’t in place.

The 72-year-old Van Wagenen pleaded guilty to touching a young girl on two occasions in different locations between 2013 and 2015.

He co-founded a film festival with Robert Redford that became the Sundance Film Festival but hasn’t been with the organization for over 20 years.