SAN ANTONIO, April 8 (UPI) -- San Antonio respiratory therapist Edward Merlin Olson, facing trial this week, pleaded guilty to child pornography and molestation charges, court documents say.
Olson, 50, was employed at a San Antonio hospital when the FBI arrested him in 2010. He pleaded guilty March 28 to one count of child pornography possession, and chose to defend himself on five other child porn charges and the alleged molestation of a boy in 2003, the San Antonio Express-News reported Monday.
At a hearing Friday, Olson pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor, and one count of distributing child pornography. The other charges will be dropped as part of the plea deal, but Olson faces 30 years in federal prison, the newspaper said.
FBI special agent Larry Banks testified Olson admitted he sexually assaulted "50 boys or more," a total of 150 times when he worked at a Tustin, Calif., rehabilitation facility for boys suffering brain trauma, coma and other catatonic states.
