A bond hearing is coming April 3 in the case of a former Burlington teacher and coach accused of sex crimes against children from over 10 years ago.
Michael Vander Linden faces eight total counts of aggravated indecent liberties, five for alleged activity with one teenager between October 2012 and early April 2013 and three against a second teen between May and August 2013.
Documents posted to the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal do not offer details about the alleged crimes, but the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has said two female students came forward separately, claiming sexual relationships with Vander Linden when he was a student teacher and they were high school students.
Vander Linden was employed at Burlington High School as both a teacher and wrestling coach at the time of his arrest a month ago. He was a Kansas State Department of Education Horizon Award winner for being an exemplary first-year teacher while at Burlington High in 2017.
Vander Linden has posted the $100,000 bond. He faces anywhere from nearly 37 years to almost 165 years in prison if convicted on all counts and sentenced to consecutive terms, or over 4.5 years to over 20 years in prison if convicted across the board and sentenced to concurrent terms.
